This page contains case studies of applications approved at the September 2011 Rural Priorities assessment round, which was open to agri-environment applications.
Ayrshire, Borders, Clyde, Dumfries and Galloway, Forth, Grampian, Highland, Northern Isles, Outer Hebrides, Tayside
Ayrshire
Glenapp Estate, South Ayrshire, under the management of Farmer's Weekly 2011 Farmer of the Year Charlie Russell, has been awarded £286,000 towards a project that will continue to protect and improve the Glenapp and Galloway Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) & Special Protection Area (SPA).
The comprehensive plan includes moorland operations, including the treatment of bracken and grazing management, which are aimed at improving the moorland habitats for all wildlife and specifically, the raptor populations that the Glenapp and Galloway Moors are designated for. This award will continue management previously undertaken through other agri-environment schemes as well as continuing to improve business efficiency and standards that the Estate have been implementing over the past years.
Borders
Cleughead Farm, near Bonchester Bridge, has been awarded around £112,000 to protect and improve biodiversity. The project includes nearly six hectares (14 acres) of native woodland planting, some of which will expand the existing remnants of semi-natural woodland within Wolfhopelee SSSI. Other work includes:
- control of grey squirrels to help protect red squirrels
- bracken control to benefit species-rich grassland
- management of grassland and moorland grazing to benefit wildlife
- fencing out livestock to protect small burns
- a small area of unharvested crop for winter bird feed.
The project will help maintain the character of the landscape, and the tree planting will help tackle climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in the growing trees.
Clyde
Weston Farm, a 900 acre organic stock farm in Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, has been awarded £65,000 to support direct marketing of pedigree Beef Shorthorns to local customers and improve sales of high quality organic breeding stock.
Spango Farm in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire, has been awarded £217,600 to protect and enhance biodiversity within North Lowther Uplands SSSIs, including part of Muirkirk and North Lowthers Special Protection Area (SPA)for birds. The farm business will work with neighbouring farms to plant native woodland and manage open grassland, moorland and water margins. This will benefit farmland waders including lapwing, oyster catcher and redshank, as well as skylark, black grouse and hen harrier. The project will enhance spawning ground for salmon and sea trout and will support the conservation of water vole - a key species in the Clyde Valley region.
West Shirva Farm at Twechar, Kilsyth, has been awarded an organic maintenance grant of £7,600 to further develop the long term sustainability of its organic egg, beef and lamb production and marketing systems.
Dumfries & Galloway
Coopon Farm near Palnure, Newton Stewart, has been awarded around £33,000 to manage and create new habitats for wildlife and enhance its conservation value. The project includes management of water margins to help enhance the Lower Cree SSSI and protect the smelt in River Cree, now the only site in Scotland with a confirmed breeding population of this freshwater fish.
Craigadam farm, a 192 hectare Less Favoured Area suckler beef and sheep farm at Kirkpatrick Durham, Kirkcudbrightshire, has been awarded around £30,000 to help maintain organic farming. The farm underwent organic conversion in 2000, and since then has been run continuously as an organic unit. Each year, 200 of the farm's lambs are processed for the family firm Craigadam County Larder, with some of this produce being used for the family's B&B, country house hotel and wedding reception enterprises and the rest going directly to consumers.
A farm business at Hannaston and Over Barskeoch, St John's Town of Dalry, has been awarded £46,000 to help protect the breeding pairs of curlew and lapwing on the farm and increase numbers of these vulnerable birds. The project will support agri-environment management on a local SSSI and preserve the globe flower and orchids on the site, as well as enhancing the area's biodiversity.
Torrance Farms is set to receive just under £35,000 to enhance biodiversity in Auchabreck and neighbouring Mulhill in Port Logan, Stranraer. Mulhill is an exposed coastal farm with heath ground along the cliffs. Management of this habitat, along with grassland management for grazing and silage ground, will benefit coastal bird colonies and other wildlife on the cliffs. The funding will also allow the farmer to enhance the path running along the cliff top with signage and interpretation boards, providing better access for walkers.
A 374 hectare sheep and suckler cattle farm in Auchenhessnane, Penpont, Thornhill has been successful in securing £39,000 to support agri-environment management, including woodland creation, habitat mosaics, moorland grazing and water margins. The project will benefit local and UK Biodiversity Action Plan species.
A 170 cow organic dairy farm at Outer Blair, on the outskirts of Stranraer, will receive almost £36,000 to help maintain organic production. The farm is one of seven organic dairy farms in Wigtownshire, and the milk produced from the herd is marketed through Scottish Organic Milk Ltd, via First Milk and the Organic Milk Suppliers Cooperative.
Forth
Eight farms in north-east Fife have been awarded a total of £332,916 for a collaborative project to benefit corn bunting populations. The project includes mown grassland and grazing management and planting wild bird seed mix, and will help to create a network of suitable habitats for corn buntings and other farmland birds. The management of other habitats including hedges, water margins and grassland, will provide links to existing features of the landscape, including woodland and watercourses, and create wildlife corridors for a wide range of species.
Grampian
Wark Farm in Alford has been awarded just over £70,000 to support and enhance biodiversity on the farm, including management of existing habitats and new habitats such as species-rich grassland, hedges, mown grassland and open grazed grassland management for wildlife. In addition, the business will continue to farm organically with organic maintenance support for arable, improved grassland, and rough grazing.
Highland
A small croft at Kilmuir on the Isle of Skye will receive almost £4,200 towards an environment management project to protect and enhance local biodiversity. Plans include mowing grassland to benefit corncrakes and managing species-rich grassland to support a range of species including hen harrier, lapwing and brown hare.
Northern Isles
A new entrant to the farming industry bought the small holding of Canada West in the west mainland of Orkney, in 2010. His aim is to bring the semi-derelict holding back in to agricultural production with the introduction of native cattle and a full management plan which complements the natural environment.
Canada West lies beside the West Mainland Moors Special Protection Area and the Glims Moss & Durkadale SSSI, much of which is managed by the RSPB.
Measures to be undertaken include management of water margins, wetland management, unharvested crops and corncrake management. A core path crosses the holding and this will also be enhanced through native tree planting and creation of a pond.
The five year management plan should help a new entrant to farming get his foot on the industry ladder, establish a suckler cow herd, and bring land back into active use whilst protecting the environment.
Outer Hebrides
Four crofts on the west coast of Lewis are working together to provide a suitable habitat for local wildlife. The crofts are in Ballantrushal and Upper Shader, two neighbouring villages with shared common grazings which lie between the two separate sites of the Ness and Barvas SPA. The crofters have been awarded £48,800 over five years to provide a link between the two protected sites, which will act as a refuge for corncrake. The project also includes late cutting and sowing of plant species such as bird's-foot trefoil, red clover and knapweed to provide a habitat for great yellow bumblebees.
A group of West Harris crofters and grazing committees will receive £58,800 over five years to implement a comprehensive programme of grazing and land management. This will support the designated features of Luskentyre Banks and Saltings SSSI, and enhance biodiversity on moorland and salt marsh across the common grazings. Grazing management on the site's coastal areas will create a range of sward heights across several sizeable areas of machair to allow flowering plants to develop and set seed.
The project will help to ensure that the designated features of this SSSI are maintained in favourable condition, and will support a range of locally and nationally important Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) habitats and species.
Five family-run crofts in the Balemore and Knockline area of North Uist will receive almost of £93,800 over five years to sustain and enhance habitats for local flora and fauna. The collaborative project will contribute to the Western Isles BAP, providing habitats for species including corncrake, corn bunting and other ground nesting birds like curlew and lapwing, as well as the great yellow bumblebee.
Tayside
Megginch Estate Partnership has been awarded £17,900 to restore the historic orchard at Megginch Castle. The project includes planting new fruit trees, restoring the orchard pond and stone walls and installing nest boxes, along with work to control grey squirrels.
The orchard and surrounding castle grounds are included in Historic Scotland's inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, and identified as one of the surviving gems of the Carse of Gowrie - an area renowned for its fruit-growing. It is home to around 100 veteran fruit trees, some of which are thought to date from the 1820s. The project will see it conserved and sympathetically restored for the enjoyment of future generations.
The work involves collaboration with the Carse of Gowrie Initiative Historic Orchard Forum Project and other landowners, plus the Saving Scotland's Red Squirrel Project.
Newmiln Farm, at Tibbermore, Perth was awarded nearly £57,200 to continue work undertaken as part of a Management Agreement with Scottish Natural Heritage to manage the Methven Moss SSSI/Special Area of Conservation. Methven Moss is a large lowland raised bog on the watershed of the River Almond and River Earn between Crieff and Perth.
Under the agreement with SNH, work included tree felling and removal, scrub control and installing three dams in an adjacent water course to maintain the water table at a high level and help prevent the drying out of the peat.
The proposal will continue with the work previously undertaken and contribute to the ongoing improvement of this important habitat and maintaining it in good condition. Management will primarily focus on removing additional areas of trees and scrub from the bog, as well as limiting disturbance to the habitat through appropriate grazing and management of wet grassland and organic fields adjacent to the bog as buffer areas.