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Farming in a River Catchment – Getting the Priorities Right - SAC Meeting and Farm Walk, Dunecht

SAC News Release Ref. No: 11N134
Published: 31 Oct 2011

The land beside the river has been valued by farmers for centuries. Annual flooding deposited fresh soil, there was drinking for livestock and irrigation water for crops. These days however farming well in a river catchment is as much about responsibilities as benefits. An SAC meeting and farm walk, planned for Dunecht, outside Aberdeen, on November 9th, will highlight the action farmers should take to avoid falling foul of environmental regulations.

Since 2009 staff from SEPA (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency) have been carrying out field surveys under their “priority catchments initiative”. They have sought out those areas where pollution from farming might leak into drains, the burns then rivers on its way to the sea. It affects water quality, fish and the wider environment. The River Dee is one of the first group of priority catchments walked by the local SEPA inspectors and the area around Dunecht is one of the most intensively farmed. Pressures from diffuse pollution there could be at their highest, unless care is taken. 

The SAC meeting, starting in Dunecht Hall on Wednesday November 9th , is planned to help famers and land managers become more aware of the implications of the priority catchments initiative. It will be a useful reminder of farmers’ need to protect their single farm payment subsidies through so called “cross-compliance” measures, such as leaving unploughed margins next to watercourses and avoiding problems associated with livestock watering.

Speakers from SAC and SEPA will advise farmers on how to stay on the right side of the regulations. They will also highlight opportunities for funding under the current Rural Priorities scheme, which may have only one remaining funding round. After the initial presentations and lunch there will be a farm walk courtesy of Dunecht Home Farms to look at some of the issues in practice. The topics discussed will also be of interest to farmers and land managers in other catchments, many of which will be included in the future rounds of the initiative from 2015 onwards.

The meeting, which is funded through the Scottish Government’s advisory activity programme, is free and open to all. It will start at 11.00am at Dunecht Hall. To help with catering arrangements, please book through the SAC office at Thainstone, details shown below.

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News Release Contacts

SAC Contact

Farm & Rural Business Services - Thainstone
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work Thainstone Agricultural Centre, Inverurie,
Aberdeenshire
AB51 5WU
TelWork 01467 625385
Fax 01467 620607

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News Release Issued By

Mr Ken Rundle
Senior Communications Officer
SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Work SAC, King's Buildings, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh
EH9 3JG
TelWork 0131 535 4196

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