Livestock farmers in Lanarkshire and the Cairngorms will be able to benefit from free business support via two charities this autumn.
The Royal Countryside Fund will again be working with fellow charity RSABI to deliver a series of workshops, providing £2,000 worth of free business training skills.
Livestock producers in both areas can register now to take part in the Farm Resilience Programme, which is open to dairy and livestock farmers and crofters.
Since 2016, the programme has supported over 1,500 families to improve their business performance and make changes on-farm.
Those who take part gain insight into their own businesses and see a range of expert consultants, brought in to deliver the workshops.
The value of the programme was again emphasised by positive feedback from last year’s participants.
As part of the partnership agreement, the Royal Countryside Fund is awarding a £15,000 grant to RSABI to assist the work the charity does to support people in Scottish agriculture.
Keith Halstead, executive director of the Royal Countryside Fund, said: “The workshops cover areas such as benchmarking and improving on-farm efficiencies to reduce costs, as well as succession planning, integrating environmental management and business planning.
“The programme has shown to increase the confidence of farming families in their decision-making which enables their farm enterprises to become more adaptable and helps build their resilience to change.”
Carol McLaren, chief executive of RSABI, said the free programme offered families a valuable opportunity to focus on their businesses and identify where savings could be made and profitability improved.
She added: "A wider benefit is that the programme pulls farmers together to benefit from sharing experiences and suggestions.”
A free online information event for farmers and crofters interested in taking part will take place on 23 September at 7.30pm.
Those interested can sign up via EventBrite or visit www.rsabi.org.uk for more information.
