You are listening to Agri Culture, a podcast that aims to explore the stories of the people that make up our agricultural industry and culture of farming, in Scotland and beyond. On today’s episode Mary-Jane Lawrie is joined by Julie McLaren. Julie is a Bank Relationship Director – Agriculture & Landed Estates, and Vice Chair of Women in Agriculture Scotland. Julie tells us about her career in banking and how her role evolved, despite not coming from a farming background. Julie joined the Women in Agriculture Scotland committee in 2024, with the aim of setting up a mentoring scheme for the organisation. Now Vice Chair she tells us what she hopes the mentoring scheme will achieve, who it is for, and how both mentors and mentees can get involved.

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Agri Culture. If you’d like to find out more about Women in Agriculture Scotland and their mentoring scheme you can find the link and direct email address in the show notes. This episode was presented by Mary-Jane Lawrie, produced by Kerry Hammond and edited by Robbie Campbell, in association with the Scottish Government.

Resources:

womeninagriculturescot@gmail.com

https://womeninagriculturescotland.com/contact-us/

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

In this episode George Chalmers is joined by SAC Consultants Kerry Leslie & Gavin Prentice, to discuss results from PCN Action Scotland along with the new CREW water scarcity guidance.

Welcome to Cropcast, your go to podcast for all the latest information on arable crops. Each month, SAC advisor, George Chalmers will be joined by a range of industry experts, bringing you timely updates to help you make decisions in the field.

Producer George Gauley, Editor Cameron Waugh, Executive Producer Kirstyn Blackwood, in association with the Scottish Government.

Timestamps

01:42 Introduction to Kerry Leslie

02:27 Who does PCN impact?

03:32 What is PCN?

06:08 What is the PCN yield penalty?

09:43 How do we know if there is PCN in a field?

12:27 Variety choice

16:42 The impact of other crops on PCN

18:40 The impact of ground keepers

20:50 PCN Action Scotland

24:50 Next steps for PCN action Scotland

28:50 Introduction to Gavin Prentice

31:19 Water scarcity project

33:20 Key project outcomes

34:40 Identifying water scarcity risks

37:50 Easy wins for farmers

Related FAS Resources

Technical Note (TN30): Potato Cyst Nematodes (PCN)

Planning for Water Scarcity - New Practical Guide for Farmers and Growers in Scotland | Helping farmers in Scotland

Other Related Resources

PCN Action Scotland

CREW Planning for Water Scarcity:

https://www.crew.ac.uk/news/arable-futures-new-guidance-supports-scottish-farmers-plan-water-scarcity

Planning for Water Scarcity: Practical guidance for Scottish farmers and growers | CREW | Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Waters

Welcome back to the Rural Round-up. On today’s episode George Chalmers and Mary-Jane Lawrie discuss the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) along with other relevant updates.

Timestamps

04:14 Single Application Form (IACS)

08:40 Fuel & Fertiliser prices

14:08 Food processing, Marketing & Cooperation Grant

16:33 Future Farming Investment Scheme

17:00 Agri – Environment Climate Scheme (AECS)

FAS Resources

FAS Events https://www.fas.scot/events/

AECS Scheme https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/agri-environment-climate-scheme/

Other Resources

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

In this episode of the Natural Capital podcast we are joined by Jayne Ashley, Head of Natural Capital at SOSE to talk about the South of Scotland's Natural Capital Innovation Zone. The Natural Capital Innovation Zone (NCIZ) is a nationally recognised region in Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders focused on tackling the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change. It is a catalyst for innovative natural capital projects, sustainable investment, and partnerships to develop scalable solutions to deliver a wellbeing economy. It provides a collaborative environment for organisations to grow ideas and deliver impact.

We discuss why the area is unique, the work, partners and projects they support and their plans for the future. This includes how they are looking to scale up investment in the area and how you can get involved.

More information and links about what we have discussed can be found below.

This episode was presented by Harry Fisher, produced by Iain Boyd and edited by Kieron Sim, in association with the Scottish Government.

Key Timestamps:

0:00 – 7:45: Intro to NCIZ, aims and guiding principles

7:45 – 13:30: What makes the area special and NCIZ as a catalyst

13:30 – 26:00: Projects and innovation NCIZ support

25:30 – end: Plans for future, scaling up investment and how to engage

Resources:

FAS Environment: https://www.fas.scot/environment/

Natural Capital Innovation Zone: www.investinsouthofscotland.com/nciz

Video - We are the Natural Capital Innovation Zone for Scotland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_frjUpSAyhc

Solway Coast and Marine Project (SCAMP): https://www.solwaycoastmarine.co.uk/

Natural Capital Podcast Biosphere OPIN episode: https://www.fas.scot/podcast/natural-capital-galloway-and-southern-ayrshire-unesco-biosphere-opin/

Tweed Forum: https://tweedforum.org/

Carbon Centre: https://www.carboncentre.org/

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot

Welcome back to the Rural Roundup. On today’s episode George Chalmers and Mary-Jane Lawrie get a policy update from SRUC Professor Steven Thomson.

Timestamps

03:05 EFA Management for 2026

04:48 Entitlement transfer & SAF 2026

09:47 Steven Thomson

09:50 Main policy changes for 2026.

12:40 Why are we having policy changes?

23:40 Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme

25:30 Future Farm Investment Scheme

26:05 Rural Support Plan

33:00 LFASS

37:10 Future Farm Investment Scheme

40:00 Other capital grants

42:20 Continued Professional Development

FAS Resources

FAS Events

https://www.fas.scot/events/

Other Resources

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Twitter: @FASScot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: advice@fas.scot