Balgonie hosts farmer engagement events
Farm events provide an excellent opportunity to not only demonstrate what we are trying to achieve, but also allow us to engage with farmers and listen to the concerns that they have with AES.
Two of these events were recently held at Balgonie, one of 10 demonstration sites which make up the PARTRIDGE project. The open days were organised by Scottish Agronomy and GrainCo and provided the Scottish PARTRIDGE team with an opportunity to chat to participants about the project. Both events proved popular, with over 60 attendees including farmers, suppliers and manufacturers.
During the visits, in addition to being shown the latest in cereal cropping research, attendees were able to see some of the recently sown PARTRIDGE mix. This provoked a great deal of discussion, with many farmers wanting to sow suitable habitat but finding that current AES do not offer them the flexibility to do this in a productive way. This is an issue that frequently comes up, and the PARTRIDGE project is working hard to try and make sure that future AES are designed with both farmers and biodiversity in mind.
Both events were a great success, with further events planned for both Balgonie and the other Scottish demonstration site Whitburgh in the coming months. If you are interested in attending, the next event will be at Whitburgh on the 20th of August. You can register your interest by emailing me at ftorrance@gwct.org.uk, or calling 07979 894173.
Written by Fiona Torrance, Scottish Grey Partridge Recovery Project Research Assistant