Two fascinating seminars at this year’s Borderway Agri Expo highlight best practice in breeding healthy stock and opportunities for future farming business success.
Information is key, and to update those attending this year’s Borderway Agri Expo, H&H Land & Estates will be hosting two seminars focussing on crucial areas of interest based on the importance of planning ahead for a sustainable and profitable future
The first seminar Breeding Healthy Stock for a Sustainable Future: Carbon, Consumer & Care will highlight the issues and openings in the livestock sector, the second, Farming Business Success: Opportunities for the Future, will take an in-depth look at farm practices and opportunities for farming enterprises during this changing and evolving times.
Held in Ring 4 at the Borderway Mart on Friday 27th October, the two seminars are free and open to all, and both will offer expert insights from panels of leading industry professionals.
Chaired by Scott Donaldson, Managing Director of Agri Expo organisers, Harrison & Hetherington, the Breeding Healthy Stock for a Sustainable Future: Carbon, Consumer & Care seminar panel will include Alice Swift (Chief Executive, British Limousin Cattle Society), Barrie Turner (Chief Executive, Suffolk Sheep Society), Nick Mullins (Chartered Surveyor & Environment Advisor, H&H Land & Estates), and a Dan Griffiths (Advanced Practitioner in Cattle Health and Production, Norbrook) will explore all the essential components of sustainable livestock production.
The seminar will cover the crucial role of animal health, welfare, nutrition, and feed efficiency in ensuring a sustainable future for livestock farming. Participants will hear about sustainable rearing practices advocated by breed societies and how they can be integrated into everyday farming operations.
Scott Donaldson believes the environmental issues in this seminar will be of the keenest interest. “Our panellists will take a deep dive into the environmental considerations of stock breeding in the future. These issues are absolutely central to a sustainable livestock industry, including their impact on soil carbon levels and strategies to mitigate the environmental footprint of livestock farming, and we will explain how advancements in technology and data-driven approaches are shaping the sustainable future for this deeply traditional sector of farming.”
As always, the floor will be open for questions and debate on all the issues covered in this fascinating seminar, and all those interested in the future of stock breeding are urged to secure their seats well before the seminar starts at 11.30am.
Chaired by H&H Land & Estates Director Mark Barrow, the second seminar will start at 12.30pm and take the form of a Q&A session on Farming Business Success: Opportunities for the Future. The panel will include fellow H&H Land & Estates Associate & Chartered Surveyor, Jonathan Hird and Farm Business & Environment Advisor, Chris Gill, answering questions exploring the diverse opportunities for farming business success. They will be joined by Annabel Hamilton of Bee Edge Farm, Berwickshire, who will offer insights into the diversified opportunities for income that they have explored on her family farm.
“The key value of this seminar,” says Mark Barrow, “will be to explore the fundamental shift towards alternative sources of income as BPS payments reduce. Our panel of experts will help participants understand how government schemes like the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) can be a used as a source of additional income for your farming enterprise.”
H&H Land & Estates experts will discuss the various grant opportunities available for Slurry Infrastructure and Calf Housing, Mid-Tier Capital Grants, AMC Funding and the Rural Prosperity Fund.
Chair Mark Barrow will introduce Annabel Hamilton of Bee Edge Farm, a next generation farmer who is successfully planning for a sustainable and diversified farming future in the Scottish Borders, as Mark explains, “We are delighted that Annabel has agreed to tell us what she is doing at her family’s farm Bee Edge. This really wonderful enterprise is an outstanding example of an agribusiness that has evolved on a traditional mixed livestock and arable family farm, and it shows brilliantly how the next generation can add value to the family business while maintaining and enhancing their core farming practices.
“As this is a Q&A session, we will be fully prepared for 45 minutes of well-directed questions on all aspects of practical advice for farm diversification, including key considerations, feasibility, and initial steps. This is not to be missed.”
Borderway Agri Expo is renowned as the UKs largest livestock showcase, back for it’s sixteenth year, there will be a packed schedule throughout the day of including the ultra-competitive livestock classes, five breed society shows, the always popular David Thomlinson Lifetime Achievement Award and the Stockperson of the Year Competition and for the first time this a year Silage Competition.
Gates open to the public at 8:00am. Entry and parking is free. For further information, full details please visit: borderwayagriexpo.co.uk.
