Scottish Government

but also features bloodlines from the Normande, Pie Rouge and Brown Swiss breeds.

The beef breeds include the Limousin, Charolais and Blonde d’Aquitaine for which the country is famed, but also the acclaimed composite INRA breed, which is mainly an amalgam of Charolais and Blonde, but also includes genes from the Limousin, Red Meadows and Piemontese, and is now a breed in its own right.

The deal also secures a route for less mainstream pedigree beef breeds, some of which have previously been difficult for UK beef producers to access. This includes the Parthenaise, Bazadaise and Gascon breeds, and the popular Salers, used increasingly across UK suckler herds.

Also difficult to source have been the Abondance and Tarentaise breeds, which will be added to the dairy line-up.

Dairy goat semen will also be part of the deal, tapping into a hugely important industry and gene pool in continental Europe.

Alison Dunphy, MD of Mastergen, says: “We have had a trading relationship with Evolution for the past six years, and are thrilled to cement this with such a strong agreement.

“Innoval runs an exceptional programme of research and development and has one of the largest breeding programmes in the world,” she says. “It represents 65% of the French market, distributes its semen in 70 countries, and its R&D activity and genetic development involves a network of 2,000 participating breeders.

“With over 6,000 Holstein males genotyped every year and one of the largest semen sexing laboratories in Europe, we can look forward to the continued availability of diverse and industry-leading bloodlines.”

Much of the semen from Evolution will be marketed to UK customers by Mastergen itself, but existing routes, through third parties, will also be stepped up. This ensures farmers committed to working with other breeding companies will have no disruption of supply.

“When Mastergen was established in the UK in 2014, we were the exclusive UK importer of genetics from MASTERRIND,” she says. “As we also become the exclusive importer from the majority of France’s cattle breeding industry, we are proud to offer UK producers an unsurpassed catalogue of mainstream, elite and specialist genetics from the main breeders and breeding programmes across continental Europe.”

Agri sector leads the way in sustainability with audit demand

By Mairi Gougeon

Farming, crofting and land management will continue to play an important role in maintaining our iconic landscapes and supporting our rural and island communities.

The sector is also leading the way as we tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

One of the ways we are supporting the agriculture sector to become low carbon, sustainable and regenerative is through the provision of specialist oneto-one advice services and carbon audits.

This provides key information to assist farmers and crofters improve on their efficiency and climate change resilience.

I am delighted to see that demand for Carbon Audits by farmers and crofters in the first six months of the year has exceeded the number of completed audits undertaken over the whole of last year.

Carbon Audits will be now be provided through the National Test Programme.

In 2018, just 99 applications for Carbon Audits were received, with 502 applications for the whole of 2021. The rate of applications dramatically increased in 2022, with 498 received between January and the end of July.

In the future, carbon audits will be delivered solely through the National Test Programme, while one-toone advice services will continue to be available through the Farm Advisory Service.

This high demand for Carbon Audits highlights the key role Scotland’s farmers and crofters are playing in delivering priority climate change commitments and the just transition to our zero carbon targets.

They really are engaging willingly with our shared ambitions here and I thank them for doing so. This shows what can be achieved with the right support.

We want Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture and Carbon Audits will continue to be an important part of that journey.

I would like to take this opportunity to urge more in the agri sector to engage with the process and play their part in the shift to sustainable, low carbon farming.

I would also encourage farmers, crofters and land managers to take advantage of the specialist advice available from the Farming Advisory Service to help them provide the high-quality food and drink that Scotland is renowned for in a sustainable way.