Innovations issue 2

Innovations September 1-12 2014 International Congress Great Britain

Issue No 2 : March 2014

Welcome J

ust a few days ago, we marked the start of the final six months before the 2014 IFAJ Congress welcomes delegates to Britain for a comprehensive and exhilarating insight into modern British agriculture and how we, as journalists and communicators, interact with agriculture in our ‘small island’.

Yet what should have been a moment of excitement was quickly tempered by the shocking news of the sudden death of Joe Watson. There are few ‘regulars’ on the IFAJ and Congress circuit who did not know Joe, and to those of us in the British Guild the tributes that flooded in from every continent were of some comfort in remembering what a superb contribution he made to our industry in so many ways: a mentor to young entrants in Britain, a diligent country representative to the IFAJ executive, an outstanding journalist and, of course, the initial driving force behind this year’s British Congress - not to mention a great friend and loyal colleague. Our Guild chairman Jane Craigie provides a full tribute to Joe later in this issue.

Our IFAJ colleagues around the world will, I hope, understand that it’s not quite been ‘business as usual’ for the Congress organising committee this month. But we’re firmly of the opinion that if Joe won’t be there to enjoy the Congress that he did so much to procure for Scotland, then the very least that Congress delegates can do to remember his legacy is to have a Congress to remember.

That’s what we’re continuing to work towards!

Many of you have been asking when registration will open. As you’ll know from our recent newsletter, we’ve had a number of unexpected legal and financial issues to resolve before we can start to take bookings. New legal entities and new financial systems have had to be established, including a new company to take responsibility for Congress and protect the British Guild from running an event of this magnitude. Individually, they take little time, but everything has to happen sequentially rather

than concurrently. We’re now on the final straight – resolving not only the most efficient means of payment, but also one in which all delegates can have confidence with regards to security of sensitive financial and personal information.

I believe we’ve now achieved that and look forward to opening what should be one of the easiest, quickest and simplest Congress registrations before the end of the month. This edition of Innovations carries a full registration guide to help you make your choice of tour and hotel for the main Congress. I hope we can also encourage you to widen your learning experience and further your knowledge of British agriculture by signing up to one of the limited places available on the exciting and featurepacked pre- and post-Congress tours.

If you’re not already signed up for our e-newsletters, be sure to add your name to the mailing list now, through the link on our website. It’ll be through this that we let you know when registrations will open - with only 70 early-bird places available, you don’t want to miss out on that earlybooking opportunity!

Adrian Bell Want to share Chairman the magazine IFAJ 2014 with someone else? Scan the QR code to go to the online version

A Shepherd Publication Published by Shepherd Publishing Ltd, Burnt House Garden, North Common North Chailey, East Sussex BN8 4DJ Tel: 01684 565533 Fax: 01684 565577 Email: info@shepherdpublishing.co.uk 2 Innovations from a Small Island

Scan the QR code and see our 2014 video invitation

this issue 2

Welcome

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Welcome to the land of food and drink

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The Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership Programme

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Continuing Professional Development

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Facts and Figures

10 Congress at a glance 14 Post Congress 15 Leckford Estate 16 The Millennium Seed Bank 17 Main Congress: Tour 1: Arable and Whisky 18 Tour 2: Market Makers: Field scale vegetables – specialist crops and fruit 19 Tour 3: Beef and Red Meat 20 Tour 4: Potatoes and Field Crops 21 Tour 5: Diversification, Forestry and Energy 22 Optional tours 23 Post Congress: Cotswold Farm Park 24 Ludlow Food Centre 25 Staying on after Congress?

26 Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) 27 Want to hear your report broadcast by BBC? 28 Power solutions for today’s agricultural manufacturers 29 Massey Ferguson shows how it support British Farming 30 Joe Watson: a tribute to a great man 31 IFAJ 2014 Organising Committee 32 The Rough Guide to IFAJ 2014

Innovations from a Small Island 3

Dr Lena C Wilson

2014 will be an extremely exciting time to be in Scotland. Visitors, athletes and media from all over the world will be welcomed to Scotland as we host huge global events, including the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, our second Homecoming celebrations and our annual calendar of festivals and events.

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hat’s a lot of mouths to feed but food and drink is big business here in Scotland. With a turnover of more than £13 billion a year, the industry is Scotland’s biggest employer. We are blessed with a fantastic larder of some of the best natural produce in the world and our longstanding reputation for producing quality products is growing, particularly overseas where we’re seen increasingly as the home of world-class, premiumquality produce. You don’t just have to take my word for it - over 40 bottles of whisky are now shipped worldwide every second and our farmed salmon has been voted the best in the world in an independent poll of international seafood buyers.

Our companies benefit from the very features that Scotland is most admired for beautiful unspoilt landscapes, fertile land and clean air. We also have the ambition, the capability and the foresight to keep up with global food trends.

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Welcome to the land of food and drink It is my job – and that of my partners in industry and government – to make sure that our food and drink companies and the wealth of world class agricultural and rural businesses operating here in Scotland are equipped to do everything they can to exploit those opportunities.

That is why we are continuing to invest in our manufacturers, our farmers and our fishermen. 330,000 people are now employed by the sector in Scotland and there is exceptional talent and expertise across the full breadth of the food & drink, agriculture and farming industries. A lot of this activity is focused in our rural areas, which represent nearly 95% of the land covered

by Scottish Enterprise, which is why our investment team has over £21 million invested in rural companies.

We provide support to hundreds of rural companies each year, many of whom are reporting increases in turnover and in overseas exports in spite of the global economic environment.

More broadly, it is very clear that the food and drink sector has been one of the real stars of the Scottish economy in recent years. Food and drink sales have increased year after year since our sector strategy was launched in 2007 and exports hit an all time high of £5.4 billion in 2011.

Yet this is no time for complacency. Scotland is not immune from the challenges presented by the global

economic downturn and our farmers suffered badly last year from a very wet summer resulting in poor yields and low profit margins. At such times, it is absolutely vital that we work with our partners in Government, with our industry development and delivery organisations and with business directly to support, innovate and drive change for future growth.

This investment supports not only individual company growth but the development of the whole industry. Over the past few years I have been proud to be one of those supporting key developments which I believe are fundamental to future growth: agriculture cooperatives and rural leadership.

2012 was the UN designated International Year of Co-Operatives and our industry leaders took every opportunity this afforded to promote Scotland’s farmers co-operatives at home and abroad. The International Year not only facilitated increased collaboration at home, it further strengthened our global contact network and our resolve to exchange experiences and learning with agri-cooperators around the world.

Closer to home, Scottish Enterprise’s Rural Leadership Programme is designed to equip those that can make a difference with the skills, insight and confidence to be advocates for rural issues. The programme covers a whole range of businesses from farming to technical services to machinery and

production and I am blown away by the levels of innovation, energy and ambition which this programme has unleashed. Now in its seventh year and with over 289 graduates this now represents a real force for transformation in rural Scotland with a more connected community and international outlook.

With such a ‘feast’ of entertainment on offer across Scotland next year, striving to improve the high level of skills within the food and drink industry has never been more important. Our vision is to make Scotland internationally known as ‘A Land of Food and Drink’ and to grow our industry to £16.5 billion by 2017. It’s an ambitious goal but one that I strongly believe can be achieved if the industry works together.

I hope that you will join us in Scotland this year to experience for yourself the beauty and diversity of our landscapes and our coastline and of course to enjoy the delicious produce. I look forward to seeing you there.

Dr Lena C Wilson is Chief Executive, Scottish Enterprise Innovations from a Small Island 5

The Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership Programme

By Lena Wilson

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nabling Rural Scotland to exploit its potential and move towards a more confident economy, led by the private sector, managing on less public funding requires improved leadership.

Targeted at business leaders and key influencers from across Scottish Enterprise’s (SE) rural areas with a focus on agriculture, energy, tourism and the rural services sectors, the Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership (SERL) Programme has been running since 2006. By the end of March 2014 SE will have over 320 Rural Leadership graduates from a range of rural sectors and will have: ■ had a direct influence on boosting ambition and motivation ■ increased the confidence levels of businesses to take the lead ■ linked business and Government and made rural policy more accessible to businesses ■ had a direct influence on the establishment of new businesses, and ■ participated in international rural leadership networks facilitating visits by US delegations.

The aim of the SERL’s activities is to assist rural business leaders to create additional wealth through leading, team working, networking, influencing and by being ambitious. It does this by developing the capacity of individuals, building their confidence, widening their boundaries, building industry and parliamentary trust, providing an awareness of rural economic issues and introducing individuals to the wider rural leadership network.

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By the end of March 2014, Scottish Enterprise will have over 320 Rural Leadership Graduates.

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We believe in a vibrant rural economy in Scotland

The SERL’s vision for 2014-2018 “We believe in a vibrant rural economy in Scotland, led by outstanding people who have ambition and drive which has been nurtured over time through our leadership activities. We believe in the potential of the SERL alumni who together can achieve great things.”

The key elements of SE’s rural leadership interventions to achieve this vision are:

1. Rural Leadership Programme – aims to nurture ambition and increase confidence by developing the capacity of individuals, widening boundaries, building trust and increasing knowledge and understanding.

2. Harvesting the Growth Programme – aims to strengthen ambition and leadership that accelerates growth through a focused and sustained approach built around supporting the capacity of individuals and increasing business performance.

3. Networking and International Connections – aims to (i) help the alumni to foster business connections and encourage collaboration and (ii) strengthen international networks and connections in rural leadership development and encourage the inter nationalisation of rural businesses.

A recent evaluation of the SERL Programme found that ■ 58% of participants state the Programme had a clear effect on increasing turnover and profit ■ The Programme has significant effects on ambitions (90%), confidence (90%), ability to initiate change (83%) and the ability of participants to plan ahead and think strategically (75%); and ■ 25% of graduates started an additional new business.

Two SERLP graduates will be hosting farm visits on Tour 3: Fresh Produce and Soft Fruit Mike McLaren gained a HND with distinction at the Scottish Agriculture College Edinburgh in 1997, after which he travelled for two years working and seeing agriculture practices in England, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

Returning home to the family’s mixed farming business, Mike introduced broccoli which has expanded to over 400 acres, and the area farmed to approximately 3,500 acres. The entire broccoli crop is sold through East of Scotland Growers, a farm-owned co-op, of which he is currently vice chair.

Adrian Ivory, after graduating from the Royal Agricultural University in 1997, returned to the family farm where he expanded and simplified the operations to achieve sustainable profitability. The award winning operations now cover 2,200 acres featuring arable and beef enterprises. Adrian has forged strong links across the whole food chain and played a hand in organising various farming events.

He works alongside processors ABP, chairs Asda’s Scottish Suckler Strategy Group and earlier this year jointly chaired the renowned Oxford Farming Conference.

IFAJ 2014 event managers Caroline Millar and Claire Taylor are also SERLP graduates, as is British Guild Chairman Jane Craigie.

The evaluation reported ‘overall we conclude that the SERL Programme has materially increased the engagement of the participants in leadership roles and activities which require strong leadership qualities, most particularly implementing organisational change’.

Dr Lena Wilson is chief executive of Scottish Enterprise – Scotland’s national economic development agency – which has 1,100 staff in 40 offices in Scotland and around the world.

Innovations from a Small Island 7

Continuing Professional Development Bring a sharp pencil and a sharp mind to Congress – there will be plenty of opportunities to hone your communications skills and build your knowledge of British agriculture, writes Steve Werblow

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ith a theme like Innovations from a Small Island, it’s no surprise that the 2014 IFAJ Congress has a strong emphasis on knowledge and learning.

The Professional Development Workshop on Monday morning, 8 September, will anchor the educational theme that runs through the entire Congress. In that three-hour session, a parade of journalists and professional communicators will share insight from the front lines of the social media revolution around the globe.

British Guild Members Johann Tasker and Simon Haley will explore tactics to harness social media tools in research and reporting. Consultant Lynsey Sweales will review social media communications programmes from outside agriculture, while representatives of British food and agriculture industry – and the nation’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – share details on their use of the media to maintain a dialogue with their audiences.

Delivering IFAJ’s uniquely global perspective, we’ll also learn about social media use in agriculture in the developing world from international colleagues.

Come with a pencil, a smartphone, a tablet or just an open mind—but be ready to gather a vast new set of tools to help you excel when you get home.

The Monday workshop will be a great finale to a Congress full of professional development opportunities.

The first full day of the Congress kicks off with a session on how Scotland’s agriculture industry positions itself strategically, pitting its proud farming community and high-quality crops against challenges ranging from the country’s short growing season, areas of low-fertility soils and small domestic market.

Rather than grappling for a spot as an exporter of bulk commodities, Scottish farmers have largely gathered behind the development of premium or value-added markets. Scottish berries have been called the world’s 8 Innovations from a Small Island

best; so has rich Scotch beef. And the Scotch whisky industry generated £4.3 billion in exports alone last year from the nation’s malting barley crop.

Government ministers and trade association leaders will offer insight into the Scottish food and farm industries and perspective on how the entire food chain is linked in the promotion effort. It’s a far-reaching line-up, including the nation’s Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and directors of Scotland Food and Drink, Visit Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.

We’ll also hear from representatives of the nation’s agricultural research centres, world-renowned for developments in crop production, weed control, livestock breeding and even Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned farm animal.

SRUC, Scotland’s Rural College system, will be represented throughout the Congress with speakers as well as a research poster display that will be available for visits throughout our time in Aberdeen. A researcher from the highly respected James Hutton Institute will present her plant breeding programme on one of the tours. And journalists on the pre-Congress tour will visit Rothamsted Research, the world’s oldest continuously operated agricultural research station and still at the cutting edge of innovation.

Of course, the farm tours – always a highlight of IFAJ Congresses – will bring professional development opportunities right to ground level. The bus rides to various parts of Scotland’s diverse farm and forest lands provide ample time to network with colleagues from around the world, and will be richened by commentary from local agriculture experts.

From start to finish, the 2014 IFAJ Congress is full of opportunities to gather stories, shoot photos and hone your professional skills. We’re confident you’ll go home with new ideas, new tools and a new appreciation for Innovations from a Small Island.

Steve Werblow is an American agricultural journalist living in Glasgow for a year. While in the neighbourhood, he's lending a hand with Congress.

Facts and Figures 24 companies and organisations have provided in-kind support worth £80,000

IFAJ Congress has a budget, including pre- and post-Congress tours, of almost £500,000

The five themed tours of Congress will rack up 1,567 miles between them, accompanied by more than 1,500 refreshing bottles of mineral water

15 companies have provided over £160,000 in sponsorship

Delegates coming to Scotland will have to pay just 40% of the true cost of their place

We will serve more than 2,100 meals, all based on Scottish produce including beef, lamb and seafood, during the four days of the main Congress

We have space on Congress for up to 220 delegates. Pre-Congress, delegates will travel 825 miles before they get to Aberdeen, including 545 miles on the Caledonian Sleeper

And as for the amount of whisky delegates are going to sample and enjoy...that’s anyone’s guess. But here’s the twenty largest export markets; seems there’s a few IFAJ members amongst them!

Scotch Whisky

USA £655m

India £52.7m Latvia £53.6m Estonia £54.1m Canada £60.5m China £66.1m Australia £69.3m

Scotch Whisky France £535m

Singapore £317m

Greece £70.5m Japan £74.6m Mexico £80.1m

Spain £259m

South Africa £166m

Germany Taiwan £150m £155m

UAE £82.0m Venezula £83.4m Brazil £99m South Korea £143m

Overall expenditure The whisky bottles represent the amount of Scotch exported to the twenty largest markets in 2011.

Innovations from a Small Island 9

Congress at a glance Pre Congress Monday 1 September ■ Travel to Sussex and Hampshire, two countries south of London.

■ Visit the Millennium Seed Bank see p 16 ■ Lunch at the Leckford Estate see p 15 ■ Back to London for a dinner with the ancient Livery Companies – the original trading companies of the City of London.

Tuesday 2 September ■ Tour of Smithfield Market, the site of livestock and meat trading for more than 1,000 years.

■ Visit two ‘city farms’ – one of them the largest urban farm in Europe – to see how farming’s been brought into the heart of London for education, social care, leisure – and food.

■ Sightseeing voyage up the River Thames, onwards to the offices of Farmers Weekly to meet the editorial team of ‘the newspaper of the soil’, Britain’s most widely-read agricultural publication ■ Return to central London for an evening reception with the BBC Rural Affairs unit at Broadcasting House – home of the world’s largest live newsroom, at any one time broadcasting to over ten million people in the UK and every week, to over 150 million people around the world.

Wednesday 3 September ■ Visit Rothamsted Research founded in 1843, the world’s oldest continuously operated agricultural research station and home to the world’s longest running agricultural experiment.

■ Return to London for lunch and tour at the Houses of Parliament, a Q&A session with the Agriculture Minister, and a sustainable ‘food in the city’ panel discussion.

■ Evensong service at St Bride’s Church. Situated on Fleet Street, a name synonymous with the home of British newspapers and publishing, St Bride’s is the spiritual home of British journalists.

■ Board the Caledonian Sleeper. One of only two sleeper trains on the British rail network, the service has individual or shared cabins and a fabulous lounge car where we’ll start to get our first tastes of what lies ahead in Scotland – whisky and haggis are firm favourites on the menu!

t Parliamen Square

Millennium Seed Bank

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Scotland is renowned for its farming, its heritage and its food and drink

Main Congress Thursday 4 September Thursday 4 September Delegates arrive for registration at varying times on 4 September to the hotels we have booked around Aberdeen Airport. We have an optional tour to Finzean, a typical and beautiful Highland estate. This tour will leave at 10.30 hrs.

The IFAJ delegate assembly will run from 16.30-18.00, followed by a ‘Welcome to Scotland’ dinner at Aberdeen's Beach Ballroom, courtesy of Aberdeen City Council.

Glenlivet

Poster display - Science, Innovation and Technology A permanent poster display will run for the duration of the Congress in the Thistle ballroom. Entitled Science, Innovation and Technology the display will showcase the best of science, new technologies and innovation being employed in agriculture and food in Scotland.

Cotswold Farm Park

Heather on Peter Hill

Broadcasting House, London

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Friday 5 September Painting a strategic picture of Scotland: seminar and panel This session, at Inverurie’s Thainstone Centre, will give delegates the background to Scotland, its rural economy, the importance of its farming, food and drink sectors, the contribution from tourism and its worldrenowned scientific activities. Speakers will include Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Richard Lochhead,

Scotland Food and Drink’s James Withers; Visit Scotland’s Ken Massie; Scottish Enterprise’s Lena Wilson and SRUC’s Prof Geoff Simm.

An afternoon and evening visit to Mackie’s of Scotland, Rothienorman featuring a low carbon dairy farm, ice cream production, robotic milking, innovative breeding techniques for low-lactose content A2 milk, branding success story, plus Mackie’s Crisps in conjunction with Taypack potatoes.

Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September Main Congress There are five tours. Each tour will be run on Saturday and repeated on the Sunday. All will leave the hotels early in the morning, arriving back to the hotels no later than 17.30. Whilst the tour titles are sector specific, all have a diverse and rich range of stories and content; so even if you don't register early enough to get on to your first choice, we can guarantee an interesting tour. On every tour you will see stunning scenery, a wide range

of enterprises, interesting people and will savour the best of Scottish food and drink. See p17 for details.

1 Arable and whisky 2 The Market Makers – Field scale vegetables, specialist crops and fruit 3 Beef and red meat 4 Potatoes and field crops 5 Diversification, forestry and energy

Monday 8 September Professional Development Workshop Innovations in social media and what it means for communicators: A three-hour, engaging miniconference with a line-up of great speakers from around the world. There will be some fun interstitial content that illustrates social media and its role and value to

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journalists and communicators with hint at what looks to be coming down the line. The morning will start with a zesty, slightly later, open forum breakfast – to help you shake off the previous night's excesses!

Lunch and Congress close 1200-1330

Finzean

The Evenings Thursday 4 September Welcome to Scotland reception and dinner courtesy of Aberdeen City Council at Aberdeen's Beach Ballroom, overlooking the sea.

Friday 5 September A farm BBQ using lamb and pork from a local farmer, at our tour hosts, Mackies and sponsored by Harbro. We hope that the IFAJ band will play at the end of the evening.

Saturday 6 September Taste of Grampian Dinner and Ceilidh at the Thainstone

Exchange. a five-course banquet of local food supplied by local producers The Taste of Grampian Producers, followed by a traditional Scottish dance – the Ceilidh.

Kilt-hire will be available for those who really want to get into the spirit of Scotland.

Sunday 7 September IFAJ Scottish Congress Gala dinner sponsored by Yara at Raemoir House Hotel – our finale evening with the presentation of the IFAJ Awards. We will dine on fabulous Scottish produce and finish off the night dancing to the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

The Factfile Date: 4th - 8th September 2014 Principal sponsors: Massey Ferguson, Perkins Engines and Waitrose Partners: Scottish Enterprise www.scottish-enterprise.com/ and SRUC www.sruc.ac.uk/ Website: www.ifaj2014.com and www.bgaj.org.uk

Contact: For more details contact Adrian Bell (adrianbell@whisper.pr), or Jane Craigie (jane@janecraigie.com) Useful Links: Plan your trip: www.visitscotland.com Homecoming Scotland 2014: www.visitscotland.com/see-do/homecomingscotland-2014/ 2014 Commonwealth Games: www.glasgow2014.com 2014 Ryder Cup: www.rydercup2014.com/

Twitter: @IFAJ2014 Facebook: www.facebook.com/IFAJ2014

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Post Congress: Monday 8 September ■ Arrive to Birmingham Airport late afternoon, travel to Stratford-upon-Avon hotel.

■ Evening Civic Reception in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Tuesday 9 September ■ Visit Cotswold Farm Park see p 23 ■ Visit Duchy Home Farm ■ Travel to Ludlow, internationally reputed for its locally sourced food and drink. We dine at Ludlow Food Centre, a diversification enterprise developed on the Earl of Plymouth’s 3,000ha

estate which strives to offer the best fresh, local, seasonal and handmade food. We’ll be joined for discussion with some of the producers to provide a true field to fork experience. See p 24 ■ Overnight in Ludlow

Wednesday 10 September ■ We start the day visiting a new hydro project development deemed as a technological and ecological win/win on the River Teme on the Earl of Plymouth’s estate.

■ Travel to Wales to visit the Pumlumon Project, a new concept in upland support mechanisms in the Cambrian Mountains designed to guide a major change in land management.

■ Find out more about a £1.3m research programme to develop genomic DNA technologies, a first for the UK sheep sector.

■ Visit a 1,500 acre upland family farm, Ddol at Llanbadarn Fynydd, Llandrindod Wells to discuss the latest developments in forage varieties and cutting edge sheep genetics within the unit’s 2,500 ewe breeding flock ■ Travel to Welshpool for a ‘Welsh fest’ featuring the finest traditional local fare accompanied by traditional Welsh music and lyrics from renowned musician, Sian James.

Thursday 11 September ■ Travel to Stratford-upon-Avon. Visit Mary Arden’s Farm, the childhood home of William Shakespeare’s mother which is maintained as a traditional Tudor farm and used as a historical educational resource centre with native livestock breeds and period cookery demonstrations.

■ Free time in Stratford-upon-Avon; optional visits to Shakespeare’s Birthplace and heritage sites.

■ Royal Shakespeare Theatre tour, dinner in the Theatre’s Riverside restaurant.

■ Optional theatre visit to ‘The Roaring Girl’ in the Swan Theatre.

Friday 12 September ■ Travel to nearby Stoneleigh Park, home to the National Farmers Union (NFU) and Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB).

Discuss latest issues with the NFU president and other industry leaders, including those

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representing AHDB – the arable, horticultural, dairy and red meat levy boards.

■ Research centre and farm visits.

Pre Congress Leckford Estate 1 September

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e’ll be lunching at Leckford Estate, a 4,000 acre working farm owned by Waitrose – one of our principal sponsors. Waitrose is a chain of British supermarkets, forming the food retail division of Britain’s largest employee-owned retailer, the John Lewis Partnership.

The afternoon will be spent touring the estate which features arable crops including high quality breadmaking wheat that is used to make a range of Leckford label flour. The unit also supplies milk, apples, pears, apple juice, cider, free range eggs and mushrooms as well as Leckford free range chickens to Waitrose branches. On seeing this modern and professional food business in action, there is an immediate sense of Waitrose’s commitment to forward thinking.

Leckford Estate is all about innovative practices and new products, a holistic approach, choice and quality, and respect for the environment. But, above all, it’s about delivering customers the very finest food from known sources. Waitrose states its reputation rests on the traceability of the finest foods. This requires strong relationships throughout the food supply chain built on respect, trust and a mutual commitment to the highest standards.

Having our own 4,000-acre farm means Waitrose practises what it preaches.

Leckford also embodies the Waitrose principles of good food, good environmental practice and fair

behaviour in all its transactions. At all stages it ensures responsible and sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry. It also recognises the daily challenges that farmers face in producing wholesome, affordable food as well as managing a viable farming business We will in fact be following in the footsteps of visitors from all over the world who come to Leckford to share in John Spedan Lewis’s original vision for farming in harmony with the environment, as well as to share in the values that Waitrose continues to hold true in its everyday expertise in food. It shares information and promote best practice with other suppliers, food experts, students and buyers through a regular programme of events.

Finally, there will be an opportunity to visit Leckford Estate’s own farm shop - the first supermarket owned farm shop in the UK which is selling over 1,000 products with a strong emphasis on locally and regionally sourced food.

As well as showcasing the wide variety of food produced on the Estate, it has worked with Taste of the South East and Hampshire Fare to source high quality local producers.

The shop has already established supply from over 60 suppliers from the area, helping to boost the local and regional food economy.

Innovations from a Small Island 15

The Millennium Seed Bank 1 September

By Sarah Cody

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ho’d have guessed that the most biodiverse region in the world lies in the middle of the British countryside? That’s right. Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, situated in the tranquil grounds of Wakehurst place in Sussex is home to the seeds of over 40,000 species of wild plants. As the hub of a global partnership of over 170 organisations in 80 different countries, the seed bank has conserved 13% of the world’s flora and is well on its way to achieving its target of a quarter of the world’s seed-bearing plant species by 2020. Most partnerships have seed collecting and conservation at their core and also involve aspects such as training, capacity building, skills sharing and research.

Aside from being a ‘doomsday vault’ to save us in the event of a global catastrophe, seed banks are an insurance policy against loss of species in the wild and they play an important role in research and habitat restoration, as well as providing communities around the world with options for sustainable plant use. In Namibia, for example, the Millennium Seed Bank has supplied seeds and knowledge to the Indigenous Plant Task Team to develop indigenous crops that are used for income acquisition.

Seed saving has its origins in agriculture, some 10,000 years ago as farmers would safeguard seed to ensure the harvest for the following year.

The connection between seed banking and food security is even more relevant today as agriculture contends with the challenges of a rising global population in addition to climate change and the continual battle against plant diseases. Seed banking is a way of conserving plant genetic resources, which includes the 16 Innovations from a Small Island

wild relatives of crop plants, in a form that breeders can use to create new, more resilient (or perhaps tastier and higher yielding) varieties. The Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change project at the Millennium Seed Bank is involved in supporting partners to collect their crop wild relatives for the improvement of agriculture for food security.

Unlike seed banks such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, the Millennium Seed Bank is a hive of activity as the incoming seeds undergo a rigorous process to prepare them for storage. Once the seeds have been identified, cleaned, dried, counted and checked for quality they are packaged and stored at minus 20°C in a bomb-proof underground vault. To ensure that the seed collections remain useful for generations to come, scientists at the seed bank test for their viability and investigate the optimum germination and propagation protocols for each species.

Collecting seeds may be fun but the real magic is watching a seed that has been dormant for hundreds of years turn into a living plant. The unparalleled biodiversity that scientists at the Millennium Seed Bank encounter means that their expertise on issues such as seed processing, storage, and germination is sought after by horticulturalists, forestry services and breeders alike.

Plants sustain human life through food, medicine, shelter and fuel as well as through the enjoyment of simple pleasures such as taking a walk in nature.

Unfortunately more than one in five of the world’s plants are threatened with extinction. Seed banks, such as the Millennium Seed Bank, are an insurance policy against extinction and provide us with options for a brighter future.

Main Congress: September 6 and 7 Farming and Rural Enterprise in Scotland We will be providing delegates will the opportunity to view a wide spectrum of Scottish farming and rural enterprise during the weekend of September 6 and 7.

Our aim is to highlight the diversity of Scottish farming and provide you with a range of interesting stories designed to generate a huge diversity of high quality copy, sound bites, footage and images.

You will be able to choose two of the five day-long tours covering different subject areas depending on

your particular interests. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and numbers will be limited to a maximum of 50, one coach load, each day which means that up to 100 delegates can participate in each tour over the two days.

Industry experts appropriate to the subject will join each tour to give you the opportunity of making an indepth study of the wider aspects of the farming business, including research and development, sustainability, supply chain issues and marketing.

Congress organising committee member Eddie Gillanders reviews each tour

Tour 1: Arable and Whisky An estimated 85% of the land area of Scotland is officially classified by the EU as Less Favoured and a glance at the relief map of Scotland demonstrates that the main arable area covers a very narrow strip of land down the east coast totalling 866,300 hectares.

However, arable cropping is an important element of the integrated Scottish farming economy, with wheat and barley being used for both whisky distilling and animal feed; oilseed rape (OSR) provides oil for both human consumption and energy, while the cake by-product is a valuable protein feed. The value of the cereal crop alone in 2012 was £461.3 million and OSR and potatoes contributed a further £209.7 million.

Scottish barley growers are benefitting from a soaring world-wide demand for Scotch whisky. Scotch whisky exports, worth £4.3 billion last year, account for a quarter of UK food and drink exports and have almost doubled in 10 years. The main market is the USA which imports Scotch to the value of £655 million and more whisky is consumed in France in a month than cognac in a year.

Exports soared by 23% in 2011, particularly to China and countries in the Pacific Basin.

Malting barley prices have reached record levels over the past two years but are likely to slip back this year in line with falling world cereal prices. Considerable expansion is taking place at many of Scotland’s 108 distilleries which last year absorbed more than 900,000 tonnes of malting barley from Scottish farmers.

Most of the distilleries are in Moray and Speyside which is the area the arable tour will take us and will include a visit to farms growing malting barley; one of Scotland’s newest maltings where the barley is converted into malt; and a distillery where there will be an opportunity to sample the final product. Lunch on one of the farms will include beef from cattle finished on a diet including distillery by-products (draff and dried wheat dark grains).

Distillery by-products are also now being used as a source of energy which is a concern for farmers dependent on draff as a relatively cheap source of protein for animal feed.

Innovations from a Small Island 17

Tour 2: Market Makers: Field Scale Vegetables – specialist crops and fruit The fresh produce and soft fruit tour takes us down south of Aberdeen to two of the most fertile areas of Scotland – Strathmore and the Howe o’ the Mearns, where vegetables and fruit are major farm enterprises. Horticultural crops account for £205.1 million of Scottish farm output.

The day will also include a visit to Strathisla Farms, the family farm managed by former Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year, Adrian Ivory, which is home to championship-winning pedigree herds of 60 Simmental and 60 Charolais cows and followers as well as a commercial beef enterprise of 150 suckler cows producing bull beef for supermarket, Asda (Wal-Mart), and crossbred females for breeding.

The herds are high health as members of the SAC Premium Health Scheme and enhanced genetics and high EBV bulls are used to achieve superior performance. Scotch beef will be the centrepiece for lunch which is being provided on the farm.

The morning visit will be to Cronan Farm, Coupar, Angus, where farmer Mike McLaren grows a large area of broccoli which is marketed through local cooperative, East of Scotland Growers. Members of the co-op specialise in growing so-called ‘superfoods’, such as broccoli, cauliflower, swedes, onions and leeks, with acknowledged high health benefits, for both UK and near-Europe supermarkets. Produce is picked and

18 Innovations from a Small Island

packed in the field where possible to ensure maximum freshness and chilled quickly after picking.

The afternoon visit is to the 700 acre Castleton Farm, Fordoun, where farmer Murray Mitchell and his son Ross grow 220 acres of soft fruit – 110 acres of strawberries, 20 acres of raspberries, 70 acres of blueberries and 20 acres of late season cherries under poly tunnels for Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Asda. The Mitchells are the most northerly blueberry growers in the world! The cool Scottish summer provides the right growing conditions. The family operates a busy purpose-built farm shop and café at the end of the farm road which has won a number of awards. They are also LEAF Marque farmers, an environmental assurance system recognising sustainably farmed products.

The Mitchells won the UK Fruit Grower of the Year award in 2009 and are winners of the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s Best Farm Practice award.

Tour 3: Beef and Red Meat Next to whisky, Scotland is probably most famous for the production of Scotch quality beef, which together with lamb accounts for £786 million of Scottish farm output.

Under the stratified structure of production in Scotland, most beef calves and lambs are born and reared in the poorer land of the hills and uplands and sold by auction after weaning for finishing on low ground farms. Calves are generally single suckled on their mothers rather than being produced as a by-product of the dairy herd.

The auction system continues to be the preferred method of trading and price discovery for most breeding stock and ‘store’ cattle and lambs – young stock requiring further feeding, which are traded through a network of 32 auction marts throughout Scotland. Finished cattle and sheep are mostly sold direct to abattoirs.

The national beef herd and sheep flock has been in decline for the past decade because of lack of profitability and the imposition of bureaucracy by the EU, especially the requirement for electronic tagging and individual traceability.

Despite the EU policy of discouraging support payments linked to production objectives, the Scottish Government, with the support of NFU Scotland, has argued strongly in CAP Reform negotiations for the retention of so-called ‘coupled’ support to enable headage payments to be made on stock to encourage farmers to maintain production.

The decline in breeding stock is threatening the future of Scotland’s important meat processing sector and the Scottish industry’s ability to meet the growing export demand for Scotch beef and lamb.

S c o t l a n d ’s native beef breeds, such as the world-

famous AberdeenAngus, Beef Shorthorn and Highland, are currently enjoying a revival, following years of decline with the import of continental breeds, such as the Charolais, Limousin and Simmental from the 1960s onwards, to produce quicker growing cattle. Supermarkets are paying premium prices for native breed cattle which are deemed to produce higher quality beef.

Deer farming is a much more recent development but the UK is a very small producer of farmed venison – only 50 tonnes a year – despite all the early development work on deer farming having been carried out in Scotland at the Rowett Research Institute and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, now part of the James Hutton Institute. New Zealand has been much more adept at picking up this research and is now a major exporter of venison to the UK. The red meat tour will include one of Scotland’s leading deer farms operated by the current president of the British Deer Farmers Association. Ali Loader, and the Ballindalloch Aberdeen-Angus herd, which is the oldest herd of the breed in continuous existence having been founded in 1860 by Sir George MacphersonGrant, an ancestor of the present owner, Mrs Clare Russell.

Following a lunch of Aberdeen-Angus beef, we will move in the afternoon to Wellheads, Huntly, a typical Scottish hill farm, where farmer John Gordon runs a large-scale sheep and suckler beef enterprise. The farm rises to 1,350ft and stocking comprises 850 Blackface and Greyface ewes crossed with Suffolk and Texel rams and 230 suckler cows crossed with Charolais bulls. Wellheads hosted S c o t l a n d ’s national sheep event in 2006.

Innovations from a Small Island 19

Tour 4: Potatoes and Field Crops Today’s tour heads up to an area known as Buchan in North-east Aberdeenshire for an early-morning visit to a young entrepreneur who has turned a business plan prepared for his dissertation for his agricultural degree into business reality.

In just four years, Gregor Macintosh’s cold pressed rape seed oil, produced from oilseed rape grown on the farm, has won a string of prestigious industry awards and secured supply contracts with leading supermarkets, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, as well as smaller retail outlets.

Following a visit to the Gulf Food Show last February, Gregor has won his first export order to a wholesaler in Dubai which will see Mackintosh of Glendaveny product hit the shelves of supermarkets throughout the Middle East.

A £250,000 investment in his state-of-the-art on-farm processing facility has increased the capacity of the bottling line to 11,500 bottles a day, making the company the largest producer of cold-pressed rapeseed oil in Scotland.

We then move on to Garnieston where another entrepreneurial farmer, Philip Benzie, and his family, have built up a large potato operation, growing 1,400 acres of the brand-leading Rooster variety for wholesalers Albert Bartlett, who are major suppliers to supermarkets throughout the UK. The russet red-skinned Rooster potato is a former winner of the Best Fruit and Veg Product at the Scottish Food and Drink Excellence Awards and has become the UK’s favourite branded potato.

The farm, with its extensive grading and packing operations, is run on renewable energy from the farm’s own wind turbine and environmental features include ponds to encourage varied ecosystems and the restoration of habitats for the endangered bumblebee which plays an important part in the pollination of crops.

20 Innovations from a Small Island

The Benzie family was last year awarded the Royal Northern Agricultural Society’s annual Best Farm Practice award.

Mr Benzie is kindly providing lunch which will include Highland beef from nearby Bogside farm where Charles Bruce, the current Highland Cattle Society president, runs a well-known fold of Highland cattle and an onfarm butcher’s shop specialising in Highland beef.

This afternoon’s visit is to Maxwell Farms at Turriff, an extensive farming business specialising in the production and packing of quality Scottish vegetables for wholesale, retail and processing markets in the UK and Europe.

Maxwell Farms’ speciality is turnips, but the farm also grows carrots and beetroot, producing both conventional and organically-grown products. Organics are grown in separate fields well away from conventional crops.

Environmentally friendly methods of production are combined with efficient growing and harvesting methods to meet the diverse needs of customers.

Growing methods are constantly being reviewed in the light of demands for reduced pesticide use and this year carrots are being successfully grown conventionally without the use of nematicides.

Tour 5: Diversification, Forestry and Energy

The fifth tour will take us up into the hills to the highest village in the Scottish Highlands, Tomintoul (1,132ft), and an all-day visit to the 57,000 acre Glenlivet Estate operated by The Crown Estate on behalf of the nation and part of the Cairngorm National Park.

The Crown Estate is governed by Act of Parliament and owns half the foreshore and almost all the seabed around the UK. It has a commercial mandate to optimise returns and is not allowed to borrow money.

Any surplus from its commercial activities is returned to the UK Treasury.

The large upland estate of Glenlivet on the edge of the Cairngorm Mountains is a fine example of integrated land use which has won widespread recognition, incorporating farming, forestry, sporting activities, wildlife conservation, tourism and recreation. The estate includes six officially-designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and attracts around 30,000 visitors a year, including a large number of school groups.

Farming is the major activity on the estate with 63% of the land area (36,000 acres) let to tenant farmers. The number of tenanted farms has fallen from 90 to 30 over the past 40 years as smaller farms have been amalgamated to create more viable units capable of supporting farming families. Farm size ranges from 150 acres to 2,700 acres, with an average of 860 acres typically supporting beef suckler herds of 50 to 80 cows and sheep flocks of 350 to 550 ewes. Considerable investment has been made by the estate to improve and extend farm buildings, especially for cattle.

The estate is keen to encourage new entrants into farming and has recently let out a 750 acre farm to three

young farmers on 10year limited duration tenancies.

The 8,000 acres of forestry, mostly pine and spruce planted in the 1950s and 1960s, is currently undergoing an extensive long-term thinning, clearing and re-planting programme with more productive conifers and native broadleaves replacing pine and spruce. Forestry is closely integrated with farming to provide shelter for farm livestock.

More than 80% of the farms are involved in conservation schemes to provide habitats for wildlife, which is encouraged by the estate, and sporting activities, such as shooting, deer stalking and fishing, are important sources of income.

The estate is closely involved in the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Regeneration Project designed to identify solutions to the economic challenges which the area faces.

Lunch will be provided by Moray Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Cairngorm National Park and delegates will have the opportunity of sampling the famous Glenlivet malt whisky produced at the nearby Glenlivet Distillery.

The day’s programme will also focus on renewable energy.

Innovations from a Small Island 21

Optional tours for partners/delegates interested in rural communities Thursday 4 September Finzean Estate There are 65 places on this optional tour for delegates arriving early from either the pre-congress tour, the Masterclass & Bootcamp or under their own steam.

Finzean (www.finzean.com) is a beautiful Deeside sporting estate in the Grampian Hills with rich woodlands, heather hills and an abundance of wildlife.

Home to the Farquharson family for 16 generations over 400 years, this working estate farms almost 10,000 acres of arable, beef and sheep and typical of a Scottish estate it offers a wide variety of country sports – shooting, fishing and stalking. It also has forestry, a farm shop and tea rooms. The estate is managed as an integrated family business with a keen interest in conservation and the preservation of a viable and thriving community.

Saturday 6 September Huntly Hairst Food & Farming Festival We have an optional tour for partners or any delegate specifically interested in seeing a vibrant and active rural Scottish community which focuses on the importance of community, food and farming to rural parts of the north east of Scotland. This tour will take delegate an

Huntly Castle

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hour north east of Aberdeen to Huntly, a pretty rural town, for its Food & Farming Festival. The event is called the Hairst which means harvest.

The Festival is held in the town’s main square and includes many local food producers’ stalls, craft stalls and live Scottish music and other cultural events. In addition, the IFAJ 2014 team has organised for the Chairman of the Huntly Development Trust and local school children to take delegates around the historic Huntly Castle, built in 1190 and the spiritual home of the Gordon Clan. The castle is now in part ruin and is located where the rivers Deveron and Bogie meet. The town has a very active community that champions arts, music, food and farming. It has also invested in a community farm targeted for erecting a community wind turbine and for supporting a local mental health charity.

This should be a great day for anyone interested in local food, culture and community. Places are limited to 15 people.

Post Congress Cotswold Farm Park 9 September

The Post-Congress tour will travel through the Cotswold countryside with its honey coloured limestone villages to Cotswold Farm Park.

Cotswold Farm Park is the home of Adam Henson, popular farmer and television presenter. Adam is helping to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers whilst creating a greater awareness of the agricultural sector fronting BBC’s rural flagship programme, Countryfile and other programmes such as Farm Kitchen with celebrity chef Nigel Slater, and Lambing Live.

Adam was born on the farm which was opened in 1971 by his father, Joe Henson as the first farm visitor attraction in the UK, and to protect some of our rare breeds of farm animals. We’ll be finding out first hand from the team how 42 years on this diversification business has developed to provide a total countryside experience for all ages of children and students.

Cotswold Farm Park has had a great start to the season having beaten off competition from across the country to win the Farm Attraction of the Year Award 2014, a national accolade which takes into account every area of the business.

Cotswold Farm Park attracts more than 100,000 visitor each year, however it is a relatively small part of the larger Henson and Andrews farm business totalling 1,600 acres, including a 1000 acre arable enterprise featuring a standard three-year rotation first cereal (bread-making wheat), a second cereal – winter or spring barley for malting, followed by a break crop – oilseed rape plus spring beans or rotational grass.

The farming partnership has always been a family affair, and when Joe Henson retired from the business in 1997, Adam took over the lease and formed a new business partnership with Duncan Andrews, a college friend, who since 2000 has held an equal share in the business.

Henson and Andrews also contract farm an additional 300 acres of mixed farming and supply contract management services on a further 600 acres.

All of the farmed area is covered by a combination of environmental stewardship agreements, and conservation is a key element in the business’ farming policy.

A joint venture with a farming neighbour has resulted in machinery and labour being shared across a total of 3200 arable acres. This has enabled the two businesses to invest in new equipment and adopt a number of precision farming practices.

There’ll be an opportunity to find out more about how the partners run a modern and progressive business that has maintained a positive momentum through initiatives such as expansion, diversification and adding value to develop excellent examples of how modern farming can be managed in a sustainable and environmentally effective manner.

Innovations from a Small Island 23

Ludlow Food Centre 9 September

L

udlow is a small medieval market town on the borders of England and Wales that is internationally renowned for its locally sourced food and drink, restaurants, and traditional butchers and bakers shops. We visit and stay for dinner at one of its most newly established – Ludlow Food Centre (www.ludlowfoodcentre.co.uk) which has already secured numerous major national awards the latest being Britain’s Best Food Hall 2014.

The centre is a diversification enterprise developed on the Earl of Plymouth’s 8,000 acre estate which was initially purchased by Clive of India in the 18th century. Since then the property has remained in the family for six generations. Lord Plymouth began to farm the estate in-hand in 1950 and since has expanded to its current scale operating a mix of enterprises including two dairy herds, Hereford and Limousin beef cattle, Lleyn and Welsh Country Mule sheep and the largest herd of pedigree Gloucester Old Spot pigs in the country.

Passion for local is at the heart of the centre which is why it is committed to sourcing over 80% of the food it sells from Shropshire and the surrounding counties bringing a major boost for local farmers, food producers and artisans.

Offering seasonal and handmade food is also a priority. In fact its entire supply of beef, lamb, and pork comes from the Estate along with a selection of fruit and vegetables from Lady Windsor’s walled garden.

The Food Centre is unique in that it is designed not only to sell food, but also to produce it. More than half the food it sells is made on the premises in eight kitchen units including dairy, butchery, bakery, production kitchen, jam

24 Innovations from a Small Island

and pickle kitchen, which surround the food hall. They’re visible through glass windows allowing customers to see the artisan producers at work. They include award winning head butcher John Brereton who works closely with the estate to select livestock when they at their peak and has complete control over the preparation of the centre’s meat. Dudley Martin is head cheesemaker and has spent the last two years developing a range of awardwinning cheeses and handmade butter using milk from the estate’s herd.

The Food Centre employs more than 90 people, and staff are encouraged to pursue new ideas and create products that encapsulate fresh, local, and seasonal produce.

We will enjoy some of this produce in the centre’s newly refurbished restaurant where we’ll be joined for discussion to provide a true field-to-fork experience with some of the producers along with representatives from the Estate who will discuss its rich heritage along with modern sustainable farming practices.

Exploiting natural resources: we will visit a new hydro project development on the River Teme, on the Earl of Plymouth’s estate. Deemed as a technological and ecological win win, the system features a very low-head site on a Site of Special Scientific Interest and an important salmon river. The result: 165 kW output producing sufficient electricity for 122 average UK homes, plus a new co-located multi-species Larinier fish pass to encourage more fish to pass quickly upstream and spawn successfully.

Staying on after Congress?

Find out more about Scottish food, drink and tourism in Stottish Food and Drink Fortnight.

For anyone interested specifically in food and drink, the Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight runs a number of events across Scotland from 6 to 22 September, celebrating this fabulous sector.

If anyone is interested in finding out more, or attending any events, contact Sophie Fraser of Scotland Food & Drink: sophie.fraser@scotlandfoodanddrink.org to find out more about Scotland Food & Drink go to: www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org In addition, there is a new event called Eat, Drink, Discover Scotland which runs from 12-14 September.

Organisers, farmers Andrew Hornall and John Sinclair and the Royal Highland Society of Scotland, describe it as the ultimate celebration of food and drink in Scotland giving you the chance to taste all of the country in one day, under one roof. It all takes place at The Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh. Judith O’Leary, who is responsible for the PR, is pulling together a package, including overnight accommodation, for any delegates wanting to attend this event.

For more information, contact Judith O’Leary judith@olearyrmpr.co.uk See: http://eatdrinkdiscoverscotland.co.uk/

Free visits to agri-tourism businesses – in return for coverage The Scottish agri-tourism sector is represented by an initiative called Go Rural. Go Rural has offered to arrange a series of trips – two or three days each – to Scotland's best farm and estate diversification businesses before or after the main Congress, including farm accommodation, farm shops, activity providers and on-farm niche food producers. Go Rural wishes to hear from any journalists keen to write about this sector and to review the businesses visited, providing feedback and blog and social media content for the business. All arrangements will be put in place by Go Rural. Around 20 short breaks or one day visits are available. Please register on the delegate booking form if you are interested in learning more. (For more information visit www.goruralscotland.com)

Innovations from a Small Island 25

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)

By Ken Rundle

S

cotland’s Rural College is delighted to welcome delegates to the World Congress of 2014. Not only can we welcome you to Scotland but our Aberdeen campus will play its part in making your time in the North East of Scotland a fruitful one. The title of the Congress is “Innovations from a Small Island” and innovation is our business.

Should you Google SRUC you will discover we are a new organisation, formed in October 2012 by the merger of SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) with three rural colleges, Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge. Our new organisation is unique in Scotland and one of the largest organisations of its kind in Europe. We draw on over 100 years of experience and deliver internationally respected research, education and consultancy to lead innovation in agriculture and the rural sector. Our expertise is part of the mix for your IFAJ World Congress 2014.

Collaborating with national and international partners our researchers are addressing the challenges of a dramatically changing climate and expanding global population. In our research centres and farms we have specialists in areas such as economics, carbon management, livestock and crop production systems, pests and parasites, genetics, food chains and rural community issues. We are particularly interested in work that informs policy at Scottish, UK and EU level.

Our research informs our consultancy service which operates from offices across Scotland and northern England, supported by specialist centres and 6 veterinary surveillance laboratories. We provide agronomy, technical and business advice for individual clients as well as delivering extension services for Scottish Government. We run diagnostic services for crop and livestock diseases, UK wide Health Schemes for beef and sheep, manage the Farming for a Better Climate, Focus Farm initiative and act as facilitators on the Monitor Farm programme funded by QMS. The diversity of our assets and expertise is also reflected in our education and training provision. We offer a range of courses from entry and apprentice level through to

26 Innovations from a Small Island

Honours Degree, Masters and PhD awards. In addition to students studying various agriculture and animal science, horticulture and environmental subjects we have internationally recognised expertise in golf course management, equestrian studies, forestry and engineering.

In the exciting, interesting and varied programme planned for IFAJ2014 experts from SRUC will be on hand to outline their latest research, explain the background to farming in Scotland and how it is facing common global challenges. Just as important, they will be still be available long after you return home. The wonderful thing about an IFAJ Congress is its legacy and the contacts made. We look forward to seeing you.

Ken Rundle is Senior Communications Officer for SRUC, and the BBC's former Scottish rural affairs correspondent.

Ken was also the voice behind the IFAJ 2014 video, which was shown to IFAJ members in Argentina in 2013.

It made another appearance earlier this year at Green Week in Berlin, when the Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, formally launched the Congress at the British Embassy.

The video was funded by Scottish Enterprise. Not seen it yet? Scan the QR code and hear Ken!

Scan the QR code and see our 2014 video invitation

Want to hear your report broadcast by BBC? Congress Chairman Adrian Bell highlights a very special opportunity open to the IFAJ’s broadcast journalists.

K

nown affectionately within Britain as ‘Auntie’ or ‘the Beeb’ and recognised and respected around the world, it’s the world’s oldest national broadcasting organisation as well as the largest, employing about 23,000 staff.

We’re talking about the BBC, of course - the British Broadcasting Corporation. There’s very few Britons who don’t use one of its services – radio, television, internet – on a regular basis and, for those of us involved with agriculture, there’s yet another reason to enjoy and value its output.

Farming Today is the corporation’s flagship farming programme, exploring issues of concern not only to farmers, but all those with an interest in rural issues.

Often the first to break big stories, it’s not afraid to shy away from the big issues; the industry’s big hitters regularly vie for a slot on the daily 15-minute programme. Margaret Thatcher, famously, was a regular listener as have been many other Prime Ministers and politicians.

The British Guild has teamed up with the BBC to provide a very special opportunity to some of the delegates attending Congress in September. Each week, the programme adopts a theme – and for the

week 1-5 September, the theme is going to be focused on our Congress, Innovations from a Small Island.

“I would like to have foreign critical views on the British food and farming industry,” says Dimitri Houtart, Editor of Rural Affairs and Environment for BBC Radio.

“Preferably reports will contrast it with what is happening in the delegate’s country.”

Dimitri’s looking for five packages, one to be broadcast on each day of the week between Monday and Friday, to the programme’s regular one million listeners. He’s hoping we’ll be able to recruit contributors from every continent, to increase its value and appeal.

If you’re a regular broadcast journalist - perhaps you’re a former Star Prize winner - then we’d love to hear from you and put you forward as one of the five correspondents. We’ll take care of all the technical details later; the crucial push now is to identify and recruit five willing and enthusiastic contributors from the IFAJ ranks.

So, here’s your chance to add ‘broadcasting on the world’s oldest national broadcasting organisation’ to your CV, and have your report broadcast across Britain in September. E-mail me at adrian.bell@whisper.pr to take part...

Innovations from a Small Island 27

Power solutions for today’s agricultural manufacturers F

or more than 80 years, Perkins has been the dependable source of power behind many of the world’s most recognisable agricultural machinery brands.

Our engine solutions have powered tractors to sprayers and chippers to combines, enabling communities around the world to plough their fields, irrigate their crops and sustain their livelihoods.

Over the years Perkins diesel engines have become synonymous with agricultural and horticultural equipment, from the famous P6 to the 6.354, and more recently the 400, 850 and 1200 Series.

It is this agricultural heritage that enables Perkins to tailor its technology solutions for equipment manufacturers around the world; from those whose machines must operate to the most stringent of emissions standards in Europe and North America, to those who produce agricultural machinery for use in lesser regulated territories such as Asia and South America.

Over the years, Perkins’ valued relationships with its customers has yielded ever greater benefits for the end user, with engines and machines becoming more closely aligned than ever before. In fact our innovative Technology Integration Workshops (TIWs) have now taken engine/ machine integration to new levels, with better fuel economy and sharper engine response being just a few of the end user benefits delivered through this programme.

28 Innovations from a Small Island

Once in the field, our engines – both old and new – are supported by a highly trained network of 100 distributors, operating in 180 countries, through more than 3,500 outlets. With easy access to over 43,000 parts stocked, majority of which can be delivered within 24 hours, our aftermarket network ensures our customers’ engines keep running, whatever the season.

Our valued relationship with our customers in the agricultural sector extends to the agricultural press, who, year after year have helped us communicate the latest innovations and technology solutions to the food and farming industry.

This year’s IFAJ Congress will see journalists from around the world converge on this ‘small island’, united in a common experience of learning more about the relatively recent innovations in British farming.

These ‘innovations’ are clearly evident across the Glenlivet Estate (part of the Crown Estate), which is the focus of the diversification, forestry and renewable tour, sponsored by Perkins. With tales from tenant farmers, who work the land every day of the year, to the recent creation of a mountain bike trail in the heart of the highlands, this tour will give you a chance to delve into the ‘heart’ of this rural community. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information on Perkins, its engines and offering to the global agricultural sector, visit www.perkins.com

Massey Ferguson shows how it supports British Farming M

assey Ferguson is delighted to be supporting the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ (IFAJ) ‘Innovations from a Small Island’ Congress, says Campbell Scott, Massey Ferguson Brand Development Director.

“The UK, and in particular north-east Scotland where the congress is being held, has an incredibly positive story to tell the world about efficient and safe high quality food and drink production. Massey Ferguson already supports British farming, through its backing of the Red Tractor Assured Food Standards and is pleased to help promote the message to an international audience,” he adds.

Massey Ferguson also has strong links with the Congress organiser – the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists (BGAJ). The company regularly supports its work in the UK and is now looking forward to this opportunity to help journalists from around the world.

“Massey Ferguson is a global company, so the journalists attending the event will be familiar with our diverse range of equipment. We are, however, also keen to assist the BGAJ in raising awareness of modern British agriculture and how high quality farm management, exceptional crop and livestock husbandry, along with astute marketing help add value to local produce.

“Farms in north-east Scotland grow a diverse range of high quality crops and agriculture is fully integrated into the region’s economy. Many have a strong focus on end-users and will add value by concentrating on the quality of the produce and targeting specific markets. While malting barley for Scottish Whisky is obviously a prime example of this approach to the whole food and drink chain, farms here also produce the highest quality potatoes, fruit and vegetables as well as cereals and beef and lamb.”

Congress delegates will have an opportunity to see, first hand, examples of these dynamic agricultural businesses on the Field Scale Vegetables, Specialist Crops and Fruit tour, which is sponsored by Massey Ferguson.

“Agriculture in this part of Scotland, is a microcosm of farming in the UK. There are large cereal producers that, in common with field-scale vegetable growers, require high power, technically advanced tractors and harvesters. Berry and fruit growers also need efficient and high-tech equipment but, obviously, in a smaller package. While the livestock and dairy sectors are looking for compact and manoeuvrable machines, today’s operators also demand comfortable, easy to use tractors with the power and features to carry out a wide range of tasks,” adds Mr Scott.

Massey Ferguson is a leading brand in Scotland with customers supported by a network of professional dealers that have been serving in the area for many generations.

“These family-owned firms have been working with Massey Ferguson for more than half a century. Their deep understanding of our equipment and their customers’ businesses means they are ideally placed to help them select the most appropriate machines.

“Massey Ferguson now has the broadest and best range of tractors and machinery we have ever built, which is designed to meet every specific need. In this area of Scotland one buyer will be looking for the power and productivity of the 400hp MF 8700 Series, while another – just down the road – could be needing a compact, versatile MF 3600 narrow tractor for working in orchards or rows of fruit.

“To cater for this diverse range of work Massey Ferguson develops and produces specific machines, which not only excel in each demanding situation, but also offer the flexibility to work easily across a range of tasks.

Our designs are heavily influenced by customer feedback, and during the Congress tour the journalists from around the world will be able to talk to Scottish farmers about their experiences and see how our machines play a vital role in their businesses,” he concludes.

Innovations from a Small Island 29

Joe Watson a Tribute to a great man

by Jane Craigie, Chairman BGAJ

J

oe Watson, the 'father' of the 2014 IFAJ Congress and Farming Editor at the Press & Journal, died suddenly on 6 March 2014 at his home in Turriff, after a period of ill-health. He was 43.

He leaves behind his devoted mother Mirren, his brothers Fraser and Murdo and a niece and nephew on whom he doted.

The tributes paid to 'Big Joe' were both warm and highly respectful of his dedication to his job and to the farming industry. Words of sorrow and praise came from the highest echelons of Government, the length and breadth of the Scottish farming industry and from his many friends and colleagues.

Joe was about to stand down from the British Guild Council on which he served for over a decade as Chairman and, more latterly, the British IFAJ Rep. Joe was planning to remain very much involved in organising the 2014 Congress – an event that is coming to Scotland because of him.

The British Guild will hold the 2014 IFAJ Congress in Joe's memory.

My enduring memories of Joe are that he was a man of staunch principle, he was a prolific writer and an oracle on so many things. We didn't always see eye-toeye - and many have echoed these words; but I never once doubted that any issue that he raised with any one of us wasn't fuelled from his heart and from his deeprooted sense of what was right. He loved farming and was an immensely proud Scot; but above all of this he was an incredibly capable and respected self-titled 'hack'.

Some of the tributes: "He was a larger than life character known to everyone in the farming communities of the north east and far beyond. As befits a man from Turriff, his knowledge of Scottish farming was unsurpassed, and no-one had better contacts in both the agricultural and food sectors.

He was never afraid to ask the awkward question and

30 Innovations from a Small Island

he put me on the spot on several occasions. In September, the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists annual congress will be held in Aberdeen for the first time in 40 years - they say that Joe was the main reason they agreed to come to Scotland."

Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland.

"I'm shocked and saddened to hear we have lost Joe Watson and can't quite believe that he is no longer with us. I have known and worked with Joe for over 20 years since his days as a local reporter. He was one of Scotland's most respected agricultural journalists, who knew the industry and all the issues inside out. It seemed everywhere I went, there was Joe doing his job. He was a very popular and respected giant in Scottish farming and his passing will leave a huge hole in our lives. No one who knew him will ever forget both his inquiring, challenging and direct manner and determination not just to get the story, but to get the truth. Joe was much more than your average journalist – he was an institution. And that is irreplaceable. He will be very sadly missed."

Richard Lochhead, Scottish Rural Affairs Secretary.

"Joe's untimely death is a great loss to the agricultural community. No other region of the UK has enjoyed such in-depth coverage on a daily basis." Graham Baxter, MD of Harbro, sponsor of the Congress Friday afternoon programme and evening at Mackies Farm.

"I have always had a huge respect for Joe's honesty, integrity and tenacity. He will be sorely missed."

Angus McCall, Scottish Tenant Farmer Association Director.

"Joe was a consummate professional with an amazing ability to report complex stories. He will be greatly missed by those who appreciated his friendship as well as his expert approach to his subject."

Struan Stevenson, MEP.

IFAJ 2014 Organising Committee Individual Congress Committees Lord Cameron of Dillington Hon President BGAJ

Tim Price Treasurer BGAJ

John Cameron Hon President IFAJ 2014

Clive Rainbird Sponsorship Liaison Officer

Adrian Bell Chairman IFAJ 2014 Immediate Past Chairman BGAJ

Cedric Porter Sponsorship Liaison Officer

Jane Craigie Chairman BGAJ Congress Director

Nikki Robertson Secretary BGAJ

Howard Venters Sponsorship, Events Secretary Deputy Chairman BGAJ

Peter Hill Communications Manager BGAJ IFAJ 2014

Caroline Millar Events Manager

Joe Watson In memory

Pre Congress (England) Joint Chairs Adrian Bell Howard Venters Committee: Mike Gooding Jamie Day Cedric Porter Congress (Scotland) Joint Chairs John Cameron Adrian Bell Director Jane Craigie Committee: Eddie Gillanders Ken Rundle Andrew Arbuckle Bob Dow Kenny Fletcher Post Congress (Wales/England) Chair Liz Snaith Vice Chair Nick Bond Committee: John Allan Helen Brothwell Mike Bunney Clive Marlow

Simon Haley IFAJ 1014 Treasurer Innovations from a Small Island 31

The Rough Guide to IFAJ 2014 Getting there - what you need to know

T

he main Congress is in Aberdeen, situated on the east coast of Scotland. Despite being 545 miles from London, Aberdeen is a most accessible destination. The city is served by an international airport, a mainline railway station, a coach station with

connections across the UK as well as a world-class port and ferry terminal. To find out about the air hubs to Aberdeen and for pre and post Congress travel arrangements see www.ifaj2014.com/getting-here/

How to book Registration for Congress opens on March 31, at 1300GMT. Be one of the first 70 to sign up and you’ll benefit from our 70th anniversary discount of £70 off the standard Congress fee!

Log on to www.ifaj2014.com and click the big red ‘Innovation Registration’ button on the front page. You’ll be taken to our easy-to-use registration portal, where you’ll be taken through the process step-by-step.

There are SEVEN key choices:

1

Select your delegate type:

a. Full delegate, single room – £795 b. Full delegate, shared room – £695 c. Full delegate, budget accommodation – £695 d. Spouse or partner rate – £550 e. MasterClass (sponsored by DuPont Pioneer) or Alltech Young Leader

2

Decide whether you want to take part in the optional preCongress tour to London and the south-east, where you’ll visit the Millennium Seed Bank and the world’s oldest agricultural research station, meet the Secretary of State for Agriculture, cruise the River Thames and enjoy a dinner with the City of London’s ancient Livery Companies. Travel – by sleeper train – to Aberdeen is included in the fee of £525.

3

Do you want to make an optional visit to the Finzean Estate, a classic Scottish country estate, on Thursday 4th September?

Transport and lunch included for £50.

4

In which hotel would you like to stay?

The Thistle or the Speedbird are the two standard hotels, within walking distance of the airport – if you’re paying the full fee, you can choose either hotel.

If you’ve opted for the budget fee, then SRUC Sutton Hall will be your accommodation.

MasterClass and Young Leaders will stay at SRUC for the Boot Camp, before moving to shared rooms at Speedbird for the main Congress.

www.ifaj2014.com 32 Innovations from a Small Island

“

We hope you find the registration process easy and efficient – and look forward to seeing 220 of you here in September.

Passports, visas and customs There are a few rules for coming to Scotland and the UK which depend on where you are travelling from. If you're not from the EU, another European country, or the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you will probably need a Business Visitor visa. Check with the British Consulate in your country for the requirements;

5

Which of the five tours would you like to see, on each of the two tour days? All are explained in more detail later in this issue, or on the website. But you can choose from: a. Arable and Whisky

b. Market Makers: field-scale vegetables, crops and fruit c. Beef and Red Meat

d. Potatoes and Field Crops

6

some details are online at http://www.ukba.homeoffice. gov.uk/visas-immigration/visiting/business Information is available on regulations concerning the length of your stay, how much money you can bring and what products you can take in and out of the country.

You’ll also find a rough travel checklist to help plan your trip at www.ifaj2014.com/getting-here/

Would you like to go onto the post-Congress tour, in Wales and the Midlands? You’ll fly from Aberdeen to Birmingham, visit the farm and estate belonging to the Prince of Wales, stay in Shakespeare’s home town, enjoy a Welsh Fest and dine at Ludlow Food Centre. All inclusive sum of £550.

Opt for a limited edition ‘Innovations’ jacket, produced by leading British company Musto, and ideal for keeping out the Scottish wind (and any rain!) and available at a special price of just £99 (RRP £130). Available to collect at registration.

7

Be sure to fill out as much of the registration form information as possible. Some of it is optional, but will help us make the Congress more successful and ensure that you – as delegates – get the most from it. Some of it is essential, however; these are marked by a red star on the form.

Any queries at all about the registration process? We have both an e-mail and a telephone system set up for enquiries.

Email

Questions@ifaj2014.com This is by far the most efficient means of contacting us - for our time and yours! Please state your query or question and we’ll try to answer it as quickly as possible, generally within 24 hours.

Phone

Call the Innovations Hotline on +44 1224 460 360. e. Diversification, Forestry and Energy

If you’ve booked a spouse or partner place, then they have the option of participating in the Huntly Hairst tour – this option will appear on their registration form.

It’s available 24 hours a day and while sometimes you’ll be greeted with a human, most of the time you’ll be asked to leave a message. That message will be picked up by the duty roster and we’ll aim to get back to you within 48 hours. We hope you find the registration process easy and efficient – and look forward to seeing 220 of you here in September.

Innovations from a Small Island 33

AGRICULTURE IS GREAT

Britain. A country of Knowledge and Innovation, Culture and Heritage, Countryside and Green, Technology and Creativity. A country whose 200,000 farms occupy three-quarters of our land area. The country that inspired and delivered the agricultural revolution.

BRITAIN

Britain today remains a nation with agricultural genius, creativity and diversity.

We’re a nation of world-leading agricultural innovators, a nation steeped in tradition but rarely looking backwards when it comes to something as fundamental as feeding the world.

Join the 58th IFAJ World Congress, Innovations from a Small Island, and see our agricultural industry for yourself. With the primary focus on Scotland, and its unique mix of agricultural enterprise and internationally renowned produce, the Congress also takes in the excitement of London and the wild beauty of Wales with its optional pre- and post-Congress tours.

In this small island, agriculture knows no bounds. The British Guild of Agricultural Journalists invites you to take part in a Congress to remember.

Innovations from a Small Island 1-12 September 2014 www.ifaj2014.com