Seminars
Whilst AgriScot is renowned for its exhibition halls, hosting over 230 different trade stands covering a wide range of agricultural and rural sectors, the seminar programme is sought after by organisations and visitors alike. Attracting a high caliber of speakers and topics, these short one-hour sessions provide industry insights and updates, as well as new ideas, solutions and networks to support businesses in the future.
And to ensure they are accessible by anyone with an interest, the seminars are live streamed free of charge and made available on watch-back, after AgriScot.
Hosted across two seminar rooms in the Upper Foyer of the Highland Hall the programme has been themed this year.
The livestream recordings from the 2022 seminar programme are available for catch up here.
Seminar Room 1 – Industry and Policy Updates
9.30am – 10.30am
Farm Smart, Profit More
This seminar focuses on the latest Precision AG technology which John Deere offers to their customers today, allowing them to farm smarter and apply site-specific farming techniques. The technology in focus during this seminar will be the John Deere Harvest lab sensor and John Deere Operations Centre.
HarvestLab is a NIR sensor which can be used to optimise farm operations and improve profitability. It can now be used in four different applications allowing accurate measurement of forage quality, manure analysis and grain sensing. The John Deere Operations Centre is a free farm management portal which provides detailed analysis of machine efficiency, agronomic data and more to help support your profitability.
11.00am – 12.00pm
NFUS Panel Discussion with the Cabinet Secretary
This annual seminar, hosted at AgriScot, will see NFUS President Martin Kennedy and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon MSP, go head-to-head to debate the issues of the day.
AgriScot Chair Robert Neill will direct the discussion where the Scottish Agriculture Bill and future support are sure to be top of the agenda. A Q&A from the audience will conclude the session.
1.00pm – 2.00pm
Dairy Hub – Dairy Panel Debate
The Scottish Dairy Hub and Kite Consultancy will deliver an expert panel to discuss the current issues facing the dairy sector.
Speakers will give an insight into the short and long-term outlook, opportunities, and challenges for Scottish dairy farmers. As in previous years, there will be an opportunity for dairy farmers and stakeholders to bring along their probing questions for the panel.
David Keiley, Senior Consultant at Kite Consulting will be co-chairing this year’s debate with Tracey Roan, Manager of the Scottish Dairy Hub.
2.15pm – 3.15pm
Farm of the Year – Panel Discussion
Details to be published after the Scottish Agricultural Awards are announced on 26 October.
3.30pm – 4.30pm
Animal Health Seminar
Moredun is committed to promoting livestock health and welfare through research and education and is recognised worldwide for its contribution to research into infectious diseases of farmed livestock.
During this session, they will update delegates on their work, new disease and developments of solutions and treatment strategies.
Seminar Room 2 – Business & Climate Resilience
10.00am – 11.00am
Sustainability in the malting barley supply chain
As a fifth-generation, family business and Certified B Corporation, Simpsons Malt Limited works with businesses at both ends of the supply chain through its malting division (Simpsons Malt) and agricultural merchanting division (McCreath Simpson & Prentice) to drive sustainable practices both on-farm and in its own operations.
In this presentation, Sustainability Manager Ben Gothorp talks about how collaboration with farmers and industry suppliers, as well as significant investments at the company’s Tweed Valley Maltings, is helping the business work towards its objective of carbon-neutral malting barley and distilling wheat production by 2030.
12.00pm – 1.00pm
Methane Reduction – Just a lot of hot air?
With a long heritage as specialists in animal nutrition, Norvite is focused on the future, and as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations join the AgriScot seminar programme this year.
During their session, they will examine key facts concerning greenhouse gas emissions and provide some context around the responsibility of agriculture compared to the economy as a whole. Technical specialists from DSM Nutritional Products (UK) will review various strategies to mitigate methane.
DSM has developed Bovaer®, the most extensively studied and scientifically proven solution to the methane challenge. More than 50 trials across 15 countries support reductions of 30% (dairy) and 45% (beef). Livestock should be regarded, not as “the problem”, but rather part of a sustainable solution.
1.15pm – 2.15pm
5 ways green energy could make more money from your land (and it’s not just about turbines)
The move to green energy will impact almost all farmers, even those whose land isn’t suited to turbines or solar panels.
In this seminar, Davidson and Robertson, one of Scotland’s leading Rural Surveyors and Consultants, will share five ways farmers can financially benefit from new energy sources and, crucially, how to do it without a cost to themselves.
2.30pm – 3.30pm
Back to the Future-how co-ops help farmer businesses and can tackle the challenges ahead.
Showcasing and promoting the benefits of farmer co-operation and working together, SAOS will present their latest annual co-op statistics, demonstrating the scale and impact of their member co-ops.
Joined by a small group of farmers from across the livestock and arable sector, the panel will share their personal experiences of being a co-op member, why they co-operate and how it benefits them and their business.
The seminar will include an open discussion, seeking audience feedback on how more co-operation can be supported and incentivised to help Scottish farming tackle profitability, climate and nature challenges.
In this seminar we want to explore with the audience how the sector can adapt to future-proof our workforce including attracting and recruiting new employees into agriculture, retain the existing workforce, develop their skills to embrace new opportunities and create next generation leaders within our industry.
