Please note: We recorded this episode while out at an event, therefore the audio quality varies throughout.

Interviewees:

Prof Sally Shorthall

Karis Beattie

Haley Shepherd

The Grass Ceiling is an EU-funded project that helps rural women become leaders in innovation—especially in farming and sustainable rural development. It runs from 2023 to 2025 and supports women across Europe through ‘Living Labs’ where they test ideas, get training, and connect with others.

The aim is to help women to drive real change in rural communities—whether it's through eco-tourism, smart farming, or green energy projects.

In short: it’s about lifting the “grass ceiling” so women in rural areas can grow, lead, and shape the future.

The Scotland Living Lab is based in the Highlands and Islands, working with eight rural women innovators connected to crofting communities. It’s a partnership led by NICRE (National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise) and the Centre for Rural Economy (Newcastle University), in collaboration with the Scottish Crofting Federation.

The Lab officially launched with a workshop in Ullapool in June 2023, bringing together women from across the Highlands & Islands. Women share practical rural innovations, such as livestock rearing, croft diversification, wildflower seed sales, water sports ventures, and creative uses for wool.

Related Resources

Women in Agriculture (FAS.scot)

https://www.fas.scot/rural-business/women-in-agriculture/

Glass Ceiling - The Living Lab

https://www.grassceiling.eu/living-labs/scotland/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Diversification on a Shoestring

https://www.fas.scot/article/diversification-on-a-shoestring/

Croftworks podcast

Croftwork Podcasts - Scottish Crofting Federation

Business support from https://www.hie.co.uk/ and https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/

Thinking of diversification projects on the croft? Hear from two entrepreneurs who have set up shops, campsites and tours in Uist, and are managing to bring in tourists and have a healthy footfall. They discuss the issues with funding on croftland, ferries, finishing animals, abattoirs, Instagram posts, Scottish Agritourism, and Enterprise agency support.

Anne MacLellan runs Balranald Campsite, the Dunes Cabin, a catering business, a new self-service vending machine with fresh veg and fish, and a self-catering cottage and a pod. Lyndsay Robertson and DJ run Long Island Retreats, with a shop of local and islands produce and offer immersive tours of the croft and machair to UK and international travellers.

Related FAS Resources

https://www.fas.scot/article/diversification-on-a-shoestring/

FAS TV Series 5 Episode 9 - Supporting Crofting with Diversification - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrYYHOqkQbI

Other Related Resources

Business support from:

https://www.hie.co.uk/

https://www.scottish-enterprise.com/

The Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) grant scheme is a new scheme in 2025, allowing crofters and farmers to invest to improve business efficiency, nature and climate friendly farming. The FFIS offers flexible capital grants to support investments with tiered levels of funding available. There are other changes affecting crofters, such as a simplified Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme, which offers grants towards infrastructure; and changes to Greening rules which will affect crofters with more than 15ha of arable land. The Preparing for Sustainable Farming scheme is available this year, for the last time, and can help with the Carbon audit and Soil elements of the Whole Farm Plan. For 2026, the Whole Farm Plan requirements are for 2 elements out of the five choices: Carbon Audit, Animal Health Plan, Biodiversity audit, Soil Analysis and Integrated Pest Management.

This episode covers many schemes! For background, have a listen to the previous podcasts on Subsidy and Support Changes for Crofting, and Subsidy Future and Current Schemes, to find out more about the structure of support for the agricultural sector.

Related FAS Resources

Preparing For The Future | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS) | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service

A game changer for sheep on hill grazings?

It’s very tricky to castrate and tail lambs within 7 days unless lambs are born inbye. Could two new techniques, that allow castration and tailing up to 3 months of age, not only reduce pain levels in lambs, but allow better and easier management on commons and hills?

The all-important intake of colostrum and bonding of ewe and lamb can be disrupted by tailing and castrating. Changing timings, so that one or other is carried out when the lamb is older, perhaps alongside other treatments such as vaccination or worming, reduces mismothering, and could be more efficient.

The Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) report on tail docking and castration of lambs (2022) recommends that effective anaesthesia and analgesia should be used routinely for castration and tail docking of lambs, when the methods used are likely to cause significant pain. In recent years new equipment that can reduce the pain associated with tailing and castrating have been developed. Numnuts and Clipfitter are now more widely available and have been shown to have welfare benefits when used for tailing and castrating. In Scotland, the Government has allowed these techniques to be used beyond 7 days of age.

Here we discuss the two products: techniques, benefits and drawbacks, costs and practicalities for use with lambs and calves.

Subscribe to hear more about the project when we report on crofter’s experiences of using the products.

Related Resources:

Watch our webinar recording where we look at how three farmers are using different methods and approaches to tail docking and castration

Webinar - Sustainable Sheep Systems - Tail Docking and Castration

Technical Note (TN679): Castration and Tail Docking of Lambs

Using clipfitter in practice:

Using Clips for Castration and Tails

FAS TV - Tail Docking and Castration in Lambs

Many aspire to having and working a croft, however crofts are difficult to obtain, at least in the more productive and scenic areas. At the same time, retiring crofters sometimes find it hard to give up their business, their source of income and home. The Scottish Land Matching Service is designed to help aspiring new producers, whether crofters or farmers, with advice, guidance, and a database of opportunities. Ian Davidson joins us today to discuss the SLMS role in helping crofts to remain in productive use.

Related Resources

Scottish Land Matching Service

Support is changing, and although not all details are clear, crofters claiming subsidy need to have specific items and plans in place by next spring. Listen in to hear the essential information you need for next year’s Basic Payment Scheme claim.

We simplify one aspect of the new system, which is called the Whole Farm Plan. The WFP is actually made up of 5 different parts, of which 2 need to be in place next year, by the 15th May 2025. We discuss the most sensible and easiest routes for crofters to prepare.

The changes have come about as our subsidy system evolves outwith the EU. The new support system is in four Tiers, with the familiar Basic Payment Scheme in Tier 1. The Whole Farm Plan will affect Tier 1 Basic Payment Scheme. We will cover the other Tiers in future podcasts as more details are released and we understand the impact on crofting, so please subscribe to keep up to date.

Related FAS Resources

Preparing For The Future | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Crofts & Small Farms resources for farmers from Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Crofting Businesses: Carbon Audits and Preparing For Sustainable Farming | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Preparing Small Farms and Crofts for 2025 and Beyond - Events

Disease risk in livestock, and biosecurity is something we perhaps don’t consider as much in crofting areas as farmers might in more intensive systems. Crofting tends to be more extensive, with lower densities of stock, but we often share bulls, and graze on common ground. In this episode I’m joined by Kythe MacKenzie, who is a vet with SRUC, and Kate Lamont, who is a researcher, to discuss the practicalities of managing disease risk.

Linked FAS Resources

Crofting Discussion Groups | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Succession Planning – Crofting | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Crofting Legislation | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

This episode hears from 2 crofters with two different routes into crofting. In this episode we discuss how they gained their croft, what they found were barriers, and hints and tips for aspiring or new crofters. I’m delighted to be joined by Derek Dick, who is a relatively new crofter in Berneray, and Angus Ferguson, who is an experienced crofter in North Uist.

Linked FAS resources:

Crofting Discussion Groups | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Succession Planning – Crofting | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)

Crofting Legislation | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot)