Skip to main content

About us

Farming for a Better Climate (FFBC) provides practical support to benefit the farm and help reduce our impact on the climate. Taking action as a sector, both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to a changing climate, will secure farm viability for future generations.

FFBC is run by SRUC on behalf of the Scottish Government. We combine ideas trialled by our volunteer Climate Change Focus Farms and information from up-to-the-minute scientific research. We offer practical advice to help you choose the most relevant measures to improve both your farm performance and resilience to future climate change effects.

Keep up to date

Sign up to our mailing list to receive the biannual FFBC newsletter (note your email address is just used for the mailing list and we don’t pass data to third parties; you can unsubscribe at any time).
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Podcasts

New for 2020, we've launched our new monthly podcast.  Each month we'll hear from guest speakers, ranging from experienced farmers and leading industry experts - all of whom have experience and knowledge of how to adapt to a changing climate.

Subscribe to our podcast via our Audioboom channel to ensure you are notified with each new episode.

Hardgrove Farm: Improving efficiencies with herd health & fertility management (Jan 2021)

In this Farming for a Better Climate podcast environment consultant Séamus Murphy and dairy specialist Dr.Lorna MacPherson speak to dairy farmer Alistair Marshall and farm manager Ken McFeely of Hardgrove Farm. The discussion looks at how Hardgrove Farm has managed to increase efficiency in production, which can ultimately reduce emissions, through an increased focus on health and fertility planning over the last few years. There are lots of take away points for any farmer looking to improve efficiency in the dairy herd and reduce their carbon footprint.

Agroforestry Systems (Dec 2020)

In this episode Poppy Frater, SAC Consulting's Sheep & Grassland Specialist chats with Nikki Yoxall, from Grampian Graziers and Finn Weddle, a farm advisor and director within Reforesting Scotland.  Poppy, Nikki and Finn have a really interesting discussion about the many benefits of Agroforestry systems, from improved animal welfare with the improved shelter, nutritional benefits from grazing access to different tree species and other health benefits, e.g. parasitic control from the naturally occurring chemicals ingested with the range of plants found within a woodland flora.

Nikki farms rare breed, native cattle in Aberdeenshire and provides interesting updates and posts on the #TheWeeMob on her Twitter page @Howemill. (Photo credit for this podcast image goes to Nikki Yoxall) .  Finn can be found on Twitter at @DesignAndConker where you can access his regular 'Regenerative Livelihood Podcast'.

Improving Efficiencies in the Dairy Herd (Oct 2020)

In this episode, we hear from Lorna MacPherson, Senior Dairy Consultant with SAC Consulting, and Megan Fergusson, Veterinary Investigation Office with SRUC Veterinary Services. The topics discussed include improving herd health, fertility and nutrition as ways to improve efficiencies within the dairy herd.

Farming in an economically viable and environmentally sustainable manner at Balcaskie, Fife (Aug 2020)

In this episode we listen in as Beef Specialist Consultant, Robert Ramsay, chats to Sam Parson, the Farms Estate Director at the Balcaskie Estate, Fife. Sam explains that the farm has a 50-year outlook for the business and as a result both economic resilience and climate change led farm management changes. The estate is now transitioning the in-hand farm enterprises to a fully organic status incorporating a more regenerative system. We hear more about the grazing management employed on the estate, including the practicalities of managing bale and rotation grazing systems.

We also have a Case Study to download featuring Balcaskie Estate - Making Use of Bale Grazing at Balcaskie Estate.

A revisit to Woodhead - a previous Climate Change Focus Farm (July 2020)

Woodhead was one of our Climate Change Focus Farms - use this link to find out more about what our other host farms got up to during the project.

In this episode we revisit Woodhead near Newmilns in Ayrshire and chat with dairy farmer John Kerr and agricultural consultant Alexander Pirie. John was a Climate Change Focus Farm host from 2014 - 2018 and made significant financial savings whilst reducing his farm carbon footprint by 6%. We hear his thoughts about the project, what he gained from his time as a host and how he has continued to make further improvements to the farm business to further increase business efficiency.

Climate Change in Agriculture & Rewilding (June 2020)

In this episode, we hear from Professor Davy McCracken (SRUC Hill & Mountain Research Centre at Kirkton & Auchtertyre)

Press Articles & Newsletters

Farming Scotland Magazine

We have a regular column in the Farming Scotland Magazine which is available to from newsagents, livestock marts and supermarkets.

Use the links below to read the latest articles.

 

General Farming Press Publications

Newsletters