Farming tourism summit
A summit focusing on meat supply chain challenges and the positives of opening farm shops on Scottish farms is coming to Perthshire.
The Scottish Agritourism Conference will take place at Perth Concert Hall on December 6-7, with a number of leaders in the sector scheduled to deliver presentations.
The conference is open to anyone with an interest in the agritourism sector in Scotland, whether already in operation, considering it, or offering business support to the industry.
Small producers face particular challenges around logistics and processing in Scotland and often struggle to secure a profit margin that makes production worthwhile.
The national agritourism strategy for Scotland has set an ambitious target that 50 per cent of farms in agritourism will offer guests a food and drink experience that incorporates the farm’s own produce by 2030.
The conference will hear from Nikki Storrar of award-winning Ardross Farm Shop, who is also Scottish Agritourism’s‘destination leader’for the Fife area.
Also sharing their experiences will be Aberdeenshire farmer Louise Urquhart and Kate Rowell, chair of Perth-based Quality Meat Scotland.
Mairi Gougeon MSP, the Scottish Government’s cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the islands, will address delegates and provide an update on the implementation of Scotland’s agritourism strategy.
The sessions will be chaired by Jim McLaren MBE, farmer and chair of NFU Mutual, which is platinum sponsors of the Scottish Agritourism Annual Conference.
Caroline Millar, Scottish Agritourism sector lead, said:“We look forward to welcoming everyone with an interest in agritourism to Perth in early December.
“Whether you are an established business or you are a farmer or crofter thinking about starting up in agritourism, the conference will provide a great opportunity for the sector to come together, to meet new people and to learn from the range of inspiring speakers who will be presenting over the day and a half.
“We have had a few ticket bookings already from farmers based elsewhere in the UK and we would encourage anyone who wants to find out more about this growing sector to come along. “Everyone is welcome.”
For more information, see www. scottishagritourism.co.uk.