Monitor Farm Projects
The Monitor Farm concept was imported from New Zealand and is now successfully established in Scotland. A Monitor Farm is a normal commercial farm, representative of a region, where the farmer opens up his business and decision-making to other local farmers. It is designed to give farmers a chance to improve the profitability of their businesses by sharing experiences, seeking out the best practices on real farms, trying out new techniques, improving business skills and generally improving their ability to farm successfully. The principal aim is to improve the profitability of farmers in the region.
SAOS have partnered with Peter Cook and Jamie Robertson (Pigs) to facilitate the Monitor Farms. The collaboration with other independent consultants provides enormous benefits to the project in terms of the team’s breadth of skills and knowledge.
A key part of the project’s success is the participation of local farmers who form the ‘Community Group’ to help decide the Monitor Farm’s priorities and the programme of activities. The emphasis is on practical farming methods and good business decisions, rather than theory.
Project Funders
The projects are funded by various bodies:
- Cairngorm Monitor Farm – Cairngorms National Park Authority, QMS, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government
- Arable Monitor Farm – HGCA, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government
- Buchan Monitor Farm - QMS, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government
- Pig Monitor Farms – Scottish Government and QMS
The Cairngorms and Arable Monitor Farm projects commenced from 2007, the Buchan Monitor Farm commenced from 2008. The two Pig Monitor Farms commenced in 2009. All will run for three years, with the Groups meeting six times a year.
A key component of the project is the ability to extend the learning from the Group to the wider farming community – knowledge transfer.
Click on the heading to read the updates for each of the projects: