Crofting & Farming
We’ve adjusted our grazing management to increase breeding productivity of our ground nesting birds, most of which are a globally threatened species. The sheep are set stocked over the entire hill part of the croft. This has many benefits for ground nesters. By George Ross, Heatherlea Ground nesters upon
Crofting & Farming
As the seasons change, so does the activity of the croft. Crofting is a vital part of the food chain, and when we look closely at sheep production, crofting is key to the supply of sheep, lambs and wool. And a vital part of sheep production is lambing. It is
Crofting & Farming
Lochview Rural Training, just 4 miles outside Lairg, provides opportunities for young people and adults to learn about rural life, while spending time outdoors and around animals. Throughout the year, they offer workshops such as practical lambing, agricultural machinery maintenance, crofting, poultry keeping or animal health, to name a few.
Crofting & Farming
How to tackle the depopulation in our area? With the new parliamentary team preparing a paper on repopulation in Sutherland and Caithness, crofting is very much at the heart of the question. by Russell Smith Depopulation has been a problem for Sutherland for a long time now. Various official figures
Crofting & Farming
Farmers who use regenerative agriculture techniques accept that wildlife will share some of our harvest with us by Donna Gillies UK farming has been in the news a lot lately. The combination of Brexit, Covid-19 and climate change has made many people rethink their food choices and sources. During the
Crofting & Farming
By Russell Smith, Scottish Crofting Federation Director and Airdens Crofter In the previous articles on crofting, we have looked at the history and the law. This time we will look a little at the agriculture of crofting and how it differs from farming. The key points to remember are that
Crofting & Farming
by Russell Smith The old joke is that a croft is a small piece of land completely surrounded by legislation and there are certainly some complications about crofting law. Crofting is unique to Scotland so we can’t look elsewhere for enlightenment. Basically, crofting was set up by the Napier
Crofting & Farming
by Russell Smith In the last edition, we looked at the crofting landscape and the benefits of crofting in the 21st Century. Here we look back at some of the history of how the crofters (our forebears) fought for their heritage - not always successfully but always with spirit. We
Crofting & Farming
by Russell Smith To welcome the first edition of the Kyle Chronicle, I thought we should celebrate our lovely landscape and look at why it has the attractive patchwork of fields, woodland, buildings, rough grazing and hills so beloved by tourists. The photo shows the crofting area of Airdens looking