Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

QMS relaunches face-to-face farmer meetings

The meetings mark the relaunch of two QMS farmer groups.
The meetings mark the relaunch of two QMS farmer groups.

Scottish livestock farmers are invited to find out more about planning for unpredictable weather patterns at a series of free QMS meetings starting next week.

The meetings are being run by red meat levy body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) as part of the relaunch of its sustainable red meat action and young producer groups.

QMS said the meetings, which take place both on-farm and online between August 30 and September 14, will act as the introductory events for the groups.

The key speaker at each meeting will be agricultural consultant Rhidian Jones, from RJ Livestock Systems. He will lead discussions on the year so far, and what strategies can be put in place for the years ahead.

“In recent years, farmers have dealt with more extreme weather patterns shown by this year’s dry cold spring followed by a hot dry summer,” said Mr Jones.

“As our climate becomes more extreme, these meetings look to help farmers reflect on the weather of the past year, their actions and to support them to forward plan for the future.”

Rhidian Jones will lead the meetings.

QMS head of industry development, Bruce McConachie, encouraged farmers to join the groups and take part in the meetings.

He said: “It’s fantastic to be able to get back to our on-farm events with the introductory meetings of the Sustainable Red Meat Action and Young Producer groups.

“Groups like these are vital to support farmers and help improve the profitability and productivity of Scotland’s primary producers.”

The sustainable red meat action group meetings start on Monday August 30 at David Girvan’s Corrimony Farm, near Inverness.

A north-east meeting will take place on August 31 at Duncan Morrison’s Meikle Maldron Farm near Banchory, while a Perthshire meeting will take place at John Ritchie’s Montalt Farm, Dunning, Perthshire, on September 1.

The Orkney and Shetland meeting will take place online on September 2.

Meanwhile, the first young producer group meeting for the north will also be hosted by David Girvan at Corrimony on August 30, while the east region meeting will take place at John Ritchie’s Montalt Farm on September 1.

All meetings are free to attend but places must be booked in advance by contacting Beth Alexander at QMS on  balexander@qmscotland.co.uk