This week’s Arable Scotland event on June 29 offered more than just on-line resources and information relevant to the Scottish arable sector, it will go a step further from other established knowledge exchange meetings as it deliberately sets out to horizon scan future challenges and debate. 
This steer as to the future direction of the industry has never been more relevant. The current challenges facing the industry are many – everything from Covid-19 and Brexit to market uncertainty and extreme weather conditions, has tested the resilience of Scotland’s arable production businesses to the max. 
The online event started with an opening and welcome video at 11am highlighting the latest research and featuring input from SEFARI, the James Hutton Institute, SRUC, AHDB and the Farm Advisory Service. 
This will be followed by a series of live 'Arable Conversations' sessions which take place throughout the day. Each will address some of the major challenges our industry is facing and debate and discuss what the future direction and needs might be for the arable farming industry in Scotland. 
The sessions will be led by a chairperson who will be joined by a range  of panellists who work in food production, academia and farming.  Attendees can take part in the Arable Conversations discussion by using the hashtag #ArableScotland on Twitter to submit questions during the sessions or the Q and A function during the event.
The 2021 season has really thrown into sharp relief some of the challenges presented by  reduced pesticide options. Virus problems are an issue across a number of crops now that we have moved away from neonicotinoid seed treatments. 
Working in more integrated ways and reducing our reliance on pesticides is self-evidently the way ahead but how this will work in practice will have many drivers. It will need to align to net zero targets and be compatible with what our markets want.
Looking at how the industry has adjusted to previous withdrawals is interesting. In a recent study run by Scotland’s Plant Health Centre using case studies, we see that until now it has been mainly by substitution of other pesticides, so for example increased use of pyrethroid sprays to manage aphids, or the use of new fungicides like folpet to replace chlorothalonil.
But since we anticipate the losses of pesticides and the rise of resistance will be increasingly rapid and challenging, simply substituting them for others will not be enough. 
Can we learn from organic sectors, or farms that practice enhanced integrated pest management (IPM) methods? And how does this impact on efficiency and yield and link to the carbon footprint per tonne of crop. 
Perhaps there are examples of win:wins where there are efficiency gains which also help the carbon footprint of crops and will help achieve net zero targets. For the options that are costly, or which reduce efficiency, will this be where we could prioritise policy incentives and other inputs and activities and what direction will these push us towards? 
Rotation comes up as an area where we know there are many advantages to making them more diverse, but this is uniquely challenging in Scotland because of our climate and the need to develop better markets before options, even as obvious as growing more legumes, will really have traction. 
It gives an example of where, if we could create a bigger market for Scottish legumes, we might actually achieve greater uptake and an upward cycle of benefits to profitability, IPM and greenhouse gas emissions. 
But even marketing our existing arable crops is challenging. At the moment cereal prices are strong and, as a result, crops have already been forward sold this year, but there have been challenges here, too, along with some contentious issues and risks to growers. 
And the oilseed rape market has until recently all but collapsed, with the real downturn in English acreage and given the high levels of imports. These are just some of the issues and challenges that will be up for discussion and debate at Arable Scotland.

Do you want to super-size future Arable Scotland events?
Arable Scotland and its partners are really keen to hear feedback on whether the on-line resources are helpful. 
We would hope to be back in 2022 with a physical field event but the forced move to virtual delivery has shown the added flexibility in being able to hop easily in and out of virtual sessions and browse information at times to suit. Please provide your feedback if you value the virtual format and would like future events to be a hybrid, offering an online option in addition to infield plots. 
You can do this by using the feedback forms you will receive when you attend the event. 
Arable Scotland is delivered in partnership by the James Hutton Institute, Scotland's Rural College and Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) with support from the Farm Advisory Service, SEFARI, The Scottish Farmer, Hutchinsons and the Scottish Society for Crop Research.
The event is free to attend, and visitor registration is open at https://hopin.com/events/arable-scotland. More information about the event is available at www.arablescotland.org.uk. Five BASIS points will be available to delegates.

Event programme:
10:00 am: Exhibitor booths open. Navigate your way round the virtual booths. 
11:00 am: Opening and welcome video (Main Stage) – highlighting the latest research and featuring input from SEFARI, Hutton, SRUC, AHDB and the Farm Advisory Service.
11:30 am-12:30 pm: Arable Conversations: Alternative markets and new cash crops, led by Chris Leslie (AHDB). Panellists: Robert Ramsay (SoilEssentials), James Webster (AHDB), Julian Bell (SRUC) and Wendy Russell (Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen).
1:00-2:00 pm: Arable Conversations: Integrated pest management – deriving the Benefits, led by Fiona Burnett (SRUC). Panellists: Caroline Drummond (LEAF), Andrew Moir (Arable Sector Climate Group) and David Howard (Hutchinsons).
2:00-4:00 pm: Exhibitor booths open. Navigate your way round the virtual booths and talk to our exhibitors.
4:00-5:00 pm: Arable Conversations: Sustainable rotations – soils, integrating legumes, cover crops and cash crops, led by Tracy Valentine (James Hutton Institute). Panellists: Pete Iannetta (James Hutton Institute), Ed Brown (Hutchinsons), Dick Neale (Hutchinsons), Christine Watson (SRUC) and Paul Hargreaves (SRUC).
6:00-7:00 pm: Arable Conversations: Net-zero – making carbon pay, led by Ken Loades (SEFARI). Panellists: Alison Milne (Crafty Maltsters), Matt Ward (Hutchinsons), Matt Aitkenhead (James Hutton Institute) and David Aglen (Balbirnie Home Farms).
7.00pm-7.05pm: Closing video (Main Stage).

All are now available in catch-up ...)

* Fiona Burnett is head of knowledge exchange and innovation at Scotland’s Rural College and the sector lead for agriculture at the Plant Health Centre.
She is a key translational crop scientist in the UK and a high profile independent influencer of crop protection practices. Analysis of crop protection decision-making problems are at the centre of her research interests and she has particular interests in Integrated Pest Management and pesticide stewardship. Fungicide resistance and efficacy are core activities for her research team.  
She chairs the Fungicide Resistance Action Group UK, a group made up of independent researchers, agrochemical and industry representative, regulators and agronomists where emerging resistance issues are discussed and advice and recommendations issued. 
The steering groups and committees she contributes to are extensive and include the UK Plant Health Forum (Defra), the AHDB Oilseeds RL Committee and the British Crop Protection Council’s Diseases Working Group. She chairs the Association for Crop Protection in Northern Britain and she is a director of Scottish Quality Farm Assured Cereals, Director of the Genomia Fund and is chair of the technical advisory committee for Scottish Quality Crops.