Now in the third year of a six-year research programme, AHDB is holding an open day to find out what’s been happening at its Strategic Cereal Farm Scotland during the last year.

Being held on Tuesday, June 20, it will be a tour of the trial sites at Balbirnie Home Farms, Pitillock Farm, Cupar, Fife, KY15 7JQ, where host farmer, David Aglen, is keen to follow up on last year’s successful open day.

The afternoon kicks off with an introduction to AHDB’s Strategic Farm network from Adrian James, its knowledge exchange manager for cereals in Scotland. He said: “Our Strategic Farms put cutting-edge research and innovation into practice on commercial farms around the UK.

"The open day at Balbirnie Farms gives us the opportunity to provide an overview of the trials being carried out in Scotland alongside our strategic cereal farms, in the east, west and south of England and I hope many of our cereals and oilseeds levy payers in Scotland will be able to attend.”

Mr Aglen will also provide an overview of Balbirnie Home Farms’ cropping, soil type, constraints and goals and explain its role in conducting a series of trials carried out under Scottish growing conditions which will help develop a strategy towards environmental and economic resilience. It is hoped that by sharing the farms findings this will give other farmers the confidence to make decisions by using similar approaches, and data to determine viable options and inform their decisions.

Professor Fiona Burnett, the arable knowledge lead at SRUC, has been working closely with Mr Aglen and AHDB on the trials programme and will discuss the trials that are taking place this year. She said: “As ever, the effect of weather and season are strong and there are some really visible differences in the trials. The open day is a great chance to see how cover crops, drilling dates and agronomic inputs have affected the crops at Balbirnie.”

Dr Ali Karley, from the James Hutton Institute, will give a presentation on agro-ecology entitled ‘Mixed species cropping’, extolling the virtues of climate friendly farming.

Attendees can then take part in a farm walk with breakout sessions looking at soil health with Ken Loades, from SEFARI; biodiversity with Lorna Cole, from SAC; and crop nutrition and rooting with Professor Burnett and Dr Steve Hoad, from SRUC. Jenna Watts, from AHDB, will also be on hand to give an update on the review of AHDB’s Recommended Lists and the progress being made.