A cutting-edge livestock handling system, a head-to-head debate with the Cabinet Secretary and big cash prize competitions are among the highlights in the line-up for AgriScot 2024.

New for this year’s popular winter farm business event, which will be held at the Royal Highland Centre at Ingliston on 13th November, are two live demonstrations of the Te Pari sheep handling system from New Zealand. With commentary from The Sheep Game’s Cammy Wilson, who uses the system on his own farm, and the sheep handled by the Barclay brothers from This Farming Life, this will be an opportunity to find out more about how it works from those who built it to make handling stress-free, where you can save time and labour, and the return on investment.

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The popular Dairy Classes have opened, with a surge of initial entries from some of the best breeders from all over the UK. The popular Dairy Classes have opened, with a surge of initial entries from some of the best breeders from all over the UK. The wellbeing initiative, Farmstrong, which has been gaining momentum since its launch earlier this year, will also be hosting a pre-event breakfast for visitors to meet up and network ahead of the doors opening at 9am to kick start the day.

This year’s beef demonstration will focus on the practicalities of calving at two years to reduce emissions, the pitfalls to look out for, who it works for and who it doesn’t, and some of the alternative actions to drive down emissions. This is a popular and always well attended interactive session which prompts relevant discussion. The cattle will be handled by students from Oatridge College to build their experience with livestock.

The popular Dairy Classes have opened, with a surge of initial entries from some of the country’s best breeders. AgriScot is encouraging entries from all breeders across the UK, to make the most of the cash prize fund, which is the largest in the UK. The Silage and Business Skills competitions have also now opened, and details of how to enter are on the AgriScot website.

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The four exhibition halls include the country's largest winter display of machinery The four exhibition halls include the country's largest winter display of machinery “We’re looking forward to a really good mix this year of innovation and practical information from our seminars, trade stands and demos, and some healthy competition in and out of the showring for all the different awards,” says AgriScot Chair Robert Neil. “AgriScot has its roots in dairy, but we are very proud that we have evolved to create a broad showcase and are now widely regarded as one of the leading farm business events across farming sectors.”

AgriScot welcomes around 10,000 farmers and agribusiness professionals each year to network and see first-hand the latest advice, technology and practical solutions for their agricultural business.

An annual highlight is the panel debate and Q&A session with the NFUS President, Martin Kennedy and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon. This year the session will take place at the earlier time of 10am.

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Alongside this, business seminars will be running throughout the day offering important technical insights and updates for different sectors, looking at addressing key challenges and highlighting potential new income streams. These include growing maize in Scotland; livestock health, welfare and disease updates from the Moredun Research Institute; net zero baselining for livestock; addressing water scarcity; electrical infrastructure upgrades and how to protect your land and business; financing to keep ahead of the game; and the popular panel discussion with the Scottish Dairy Hub and Kite Consulting.

All indoors, the four exhibition halls include the country’s largest winter display of machinery where visitors can see first-hand a wide range of the latest hardware and technology, and a total of 240 trade stands.

The Awards are also a huge draw to AgriScot with the dairy classes, Silage, Product Innovation and Business Skills competitions offering some compelling high value prizes. Also currently being judged ahead of the event are awards for outstanding farming businesses from all sectors across Scotland, including arable, dairy, diversified, sustainable, beef, sheep and, new for this year, Mixed Farm of the Year.

The Business Skills competition for young people aged 18-25 seeks brings emerging young talent to the fore, and the new product innovation competition showcases some of the most exciting agricultural products coming to the market.