Grazing Group Meetings Focus on Making the Most of Grass

Farmers interested in improving their profitability by optimizing their use of grass, are invited to attend Grazing Group meetings being held in Glenluce, Tain and Aboyne in the coming week.

The meetings, which will be free to attend and open to all, have been organized by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and are three of six regional grazing group meetings being held around Scotland this month.

The North East Grazing Group meeting is being held on Wednesday 10 June at the Deeside Activity Centre starting at 10am. Host farmers Ahren and Louise Urquhart from Maryfield farm, Aboyne, will provide an update on their farm activities since the last meeting. They will be joined by Rhidian Jones from SAC Consulting (Part of Scotland's Rural College) who will speak about feed budgeting & rotational grazing. After lunch the group will visit Maryfield and see the Urquhart’s grass management programme first hand.

Two days later (Friday 12 June) the North of Scotland Grazing Group meeting is being held at the Seaboard Centre, Balintore near Tain at 10am. Rhidian Jones will speak about feed budgeting and rotational grazing at this meeting as well as host farmer Duncan Scott. After lunch, there will be a visit to Bayfield farm to see how Duncan plans to manage his grass supply over the summer.

Finally, on Tuesday 16 June, the South West Grazing Group will meet at Glenluce Hall, in Glenluce. The meeting will begin at 10am and will feature a talk from host farmer Ean Stewart from Challochmun Farm. He will be joined by Rhidian Jones from SAC Consulting (part of Scotland's Rural College) who will talk about ‘Feed Budgeting and Rotational Grazing’. The group will then move to nearby Challochmun Farm after lunch for a farm tour and an opportunity to see what changes Ean has made since the last meeting.

There is strong evidence showing that with grass-based systems, the closer a business can match its stock demand with grass supply, the more profitable that business will be.

Michael Blanche, Knowledge Transfer Specialist at QMS, encouraged local farmers to attend these meetings.

“Grass is a resource which is too often not utilised to its full potential on livestock farms,” said Mr Blanche.

“However, more and more livestock farmers are becoming aware of the potential to improve their profitability through better grass management. These meetings will showcase three farms that successfully manage their grass and give farmers guidance on how to improve their own grass production.”

Those who attend the meetings will also have an opportunity to collect their free QMS sward stick, a handy, practical and simple to use device to help farmers monitor their grass growth.  

If you would like to attend any of these meetings please contact QMS on 0131 472 4040 or email info@qmscotland.co.uk