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Valuing your soils - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 13d

How are other farmers managing their soils? See hints, tips and ideas in the Valuing Your Soils brochure, download at

The "Valuing Your Soils", booklet and supporting information has been produced to help Scottish farmers, crofters, and land managers protect.

Improving Soils and Preventing Runoff and Erosion Through Tramline Management - Farming and Water Scotland

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 16d

Can you confidently 'hand-texture' your soils? Want a reminder? See the Valuing Your Soils brochure . Download at www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/soil-nutrien...

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 19d

Back in July, we caught up with SEPA’s Pete Wright plus Sally MacKenzie and Malcolm Smith from cairngormsnews.bsky.social to talk about the water scarcity situation. If you missed it, watch at
www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/resource/water-scarcity-impact-and-mitigation-measures-scotland/

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 22d

Data from the Met office shows a mixed picture of rainfall across Scotland (and the UK) over the summer months when compared to the 1991-2020 average. You can read their weather and climate summaries at www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/cli...

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 26d

Tramline management can protect farm soils and reduce runoff; we have an informative slide set with some different machinery options. Take a look at

Tramlines are a major diffuse pollution pathway. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems reduce soil damage, can increase yield and save both fuel and time.

Know The Rules - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · 29d

Plenty of field work going on right now. Remember to keep 2m back from surface water, wetlands or shorelines. More detail in our Know the Rules Factsheet 11; series available at www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/know-the-rules/

Following an update to the Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR), the majority of rules around slurry and silage handing and storage.

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Sep 7

Thinking about gold panning? You better get a move on. Good practice requires that gold panning actives shouldn’t be carried out between 1st October and 31st May where fish are present to protect spawning and emergence. See SEPAs position on gold panning shorturl.at/27y3T
[Pic from pixabay.com]

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Sep 4

SEPA release their Water Scarcity Reports on a Thursday. Read the latest updates beta.sepa.scot/water-scarci...

Pond creations on farms - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 27

We heard from SAC Consulting's Harry Fisher about some of the benefits of pond creation and how it's a win-win, providing both an asset for the farm and haven for biodiversity. You can read more at bit.ly/44WLW28
@sacconsulting.bsky.social
@scottishepa.bsky.social

Ponds can offer an array of benefits to farms, from prevention of soil erosion and water retention to provide key habitats for biodiversity.

bit.ly

Podcast Archives - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 25

Maintenance of field drainage systems, including any work to remove sediments, vegetation or debris from a field drain or completely man-made ditch can be done at any time without contacting SEPA. See Know the Rules factsheet 14 bit.ly/3UKByEt
@scottishepa.bsky.social
@sacconsulting.bsky.social

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 21

Fancy a new podcast? From riparian planting, to use of digestate, to IPM, we’ve chatted to a range of farmers, regulators, Agric technical specialists and consultants. Take a look at our podcast page at tinyurl.com/23z5ex5z

@sacconsulting.bsky.social
@scottishepa.bsky.social

The Farming and Water Scotland initiative helps farmers and land managers keep on the right side of the diffuse pollution regulations.

tinyurl.com

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 18

Livestock crossing points can reduce poaching, erosion and subsequent and loss of land. You can install a minor bridge across a watercourse without contacting SEPA – read more in our Crossing Points Know the Rules guide tinyurl.com/w6byk7mb

@sacconsulting.bsky.social
@scottishepa.bsky.social

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 15

For those of you who like a good flow diagram on a Friday, here is the most recent Scottish Nitrogen Balance Sheet. It looks at all the flows of nitrogen in Scotland from across the whole economy. You can read more at www.gov.scot/publications...

A Recap on Ammonia in Agriculture - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 11

SAC Consulting's Freya Lance gave us a recap on ammonia in agriculture; read more in our summer newsletter at www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/resource/amm...
@sacconsulting.bsky.social @scottishepa.bsky.social

Ammonia, causes great impact to the natural environment & human health. 87% of the UK’s ammonia emissions is associated with agriculture.

PEPFAA Code - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 6

Looking for the PEPFAA code? Offers practical ideas to comply with environmental pollution regulations and benefit the farm business. Read on our website www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/pepfaa-code-of-good-practice/
@sacconsulting.bsky.social
@scottishepa.bsky.social

Farming and Water Scotland - PEPFAA (Prevention of Environmental Pollution From Agricultural Activity) Code of Good practice

Farming & Water Scotland - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Aug 4

Did you receive our quarterly newsletter? If not, you can sign up on our webpage and view past issues in our resources section. www.farmingandwaterscotland.org/

The Farming and Water Scotland initiative helps farmers and land managers keep on the right side of the diffuse pollution regulations, reduce diffuse pollution risks and benefit the farm business.

Securing your Water Supply with Boreholes and Lagoons | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 31

We met Alex Pirie (SAC Consulting), Struan Candlish (Ayrshire Rivers Trust) & Alan Kettle-White (Argyll Fisheries Trust) on Arran, to talk protection of riverbanks, drainage and bank stabilisation at Bridge Farm with hosts Colin & Laura Currie.
@alexclarkpirie.bsky.social @sacconsulting.bsky.social

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 31

The dry weather has prompted an increased interest in boreholes. FAS have written a piece on securing your water supply with boreholes and lagoons, read it here
www.fas.scot/article/securing-your-water-supply-with-boreholes-and-lagoons/

Scotland's water is one of the country's greatest assets. The supply of clean water to Scotland is valued at £228 million, however, this is threatened by

www.fas.scot

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 29

The Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) offers grants from £5k to £20k depending on farm size, to improve environmental performance. Supports items such as irrigation controllers for rain guns to slurry separators. It closes on 22 Aug, so be quick!
www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-s...

Future Farm Investment Scheme full guidance

The Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) is a capital grant scheme designed to help eligible active farmers and crofters improve the environmental performance of their agricultural business in…

www.ruralpayments.org

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 23

Its Farm Safety Week! From pre-harvest checks to working with slurry, the Yellow Wellies Little Book of Farm Safety gives lots of practical reminders around routine, day to day activities. It’s well worth a look.
Read at www.yellowwellies.org/resources

Water Scarcity: Impact and mitigation measures in Scotland - Farming and Water Scotland

Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 21

We visited the River Spey Catchment to hear how organisations are working together during this period of water scarcity to support the River, wildlife, agriculture and businesses that rely on it. Watch at shorturl.at/Kul3K
Cairngormsnews.bsky.social
scottishepa.bsky.social

Learn from experience and expertise from SEPA and Cairngorms National Park on how land managers can cope with water scarcity in Scotland.

29 May 2025 | Beta | SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 18

Despite a bit of rain, over half of Scotland is still at alert or moderate water scarcity risk. Keep up to date with the changing picture via SEPA weekly water scarcity reports.

SEPA is the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Our role is to make sure that the environment and human health are protected, to ensure that Scotland’s natural resources and services are used as…

beta.sepa.scot

Reposted by Farming & Water Scotland

nffn.bsky.social @nffn.bsky.social · Jul 18

Facing tough droughts in 2025, NFFN farmers like Jack, Colin & Matthew are turning to nature-friendly solutions - from tree planting to soil regeneration - to stay resilient.

Working with nature is key to climate-ready farming. 👐

📖👉https://tinyurl.com/nh8edcsc

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Farming & Water Scotland @farmwaterscot.bsky.social · Jul 17

Looking for some new podcasts? From Magic Margins to use of digestate, there’s loads of great listens over on our podcast page

Podcast Archives - Farming and Water Scotland

The Farming and Water Scotland initiative helps farmers and land managers keep on the right side of the diffuse pollution regulations.