Welcome to the second episode of In Conversation With… hosted this month by Senior Sheep and Beef Consultant Kirsten Williams. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode Kirsten is joined by Poppy Frater (Senior Consultant, SAC Consulting) and Kerr Adams (Research Scientist, The James Hutton Institute). They discuss grass and water management and look at how to build resilience into a system. Also, the wet winter, late spring and how to manage grass growth and maximise productivity. To round off the discussion, our panel look ahead to the summer months, trends and how to plan for possible drought problems.  Episode Timestamps  00.00 Introduction  01.29 Making best use of pasture 02.35 Three leaf rule 04.19 Grass target heights – hitting the sweet spot 05.45 Value of rest 10.30 Effect of a changing climate on water availability  11:55 Climatic water balance projections 15.23 Water footprint 18.52 Strategies to increase water holding capacity  21.59 Sheep are the solution! 22.15 Building resilience into the system 25.45 Learning from others 28.18 Software to help manage supply and demand. Scenario planning. 32.42 Forage crops 33.16 Cashflow 34.35 Change one little thing 38.50 Key message for managing grass supplies 39.34 Key message for managing water supplies  41.17 Kirsten's take home message  FAS Resources www.fas.scot/publication/resilient-technology-options-for-water-management-on-farm/  www.fas.scot/article/water-scarcity-and-rising-temperatures/  www.fas.scot/publication/feast-or-famine-water-on-your-farm-water-scarcity-video/  Other Resources  www.hutton.ac.uk  www.crew.ac.uk/  www.sruc.ac.uk/business-services/sac-consulting/agricultural-production/grassland-management/grazeup/ www.farmingandwaterscotland.org  www.rsabi.org.uk For more information, visit www.FAS.scot Twitter: @FASScot Facebook: @FASScot National Advice Hub Phone: 0300 323 0161 Email: [email protected] 

Welcome to the first episode of In Conversation With… hosted this month by Principal Consultant Mark Bowsher-Gibbs. This show is produced in association with the Scottish Government. On today’s episode Mark is joined by Gary Catto (Head of Merchanting at Scotgrain Agriculture, part of Bairds Malt Ltd) and Robin Barron (General Manager at East of Scotland Farmers). They provide business insights and discuss grain marketplace, how the last 12 months have been, grain quality, supply and demand and what does 2024 look like as a trading environment.   Episode Timestamps  00.00 Introduction – background and business operations 04:26 Increasing demand for malting barley 05:15 Steps in the supply chain 06:29 Global whisky sales and investment at malting level 08:29 Procuring grain and how a cooperative works  09:52 Grain varieties 10:33 Current planting situation and growers aommitments 11:30 Grain storage and movement throughout the year 15:10 Do end users drive when processing occurs and tonnage targets? 17:39 Dealing with variable grain quality 20:42 Expectations for 2024 23:14 New varieties on the horizon 26:33 Supply chain – priorities for the next 24 months 30:29 Lower carbon barley 33.01 Next month – Kirsten Williams discusses sheep health and welfare FAS Resources https://www.fas.scot/crops-soils/  www.fas.scot/problem-solver/all-arable/  https://www.fas.scot/article/agribusiness-news-april-2023-cereals-and-oilseeds/ Other Resources  www.scotgrain.co.uk  www.bairds-malt.co.uk  www.eosf.co.uk  For more information, visit www.FAS.scot Twitter: @FASScot Facebook: @FASScot National Advice Hub Phone: 0300 323 0161 Email: [email protected] Credits:Hosted by Mark Bowsher-Gibbs  Guests; Gary Catto (Bairds Malt) & Robin Barron (East of Scotland Farmers) Produced by Heather Stuart Edited by Cameron Waugh Executive Producer Kerry Hammond