Rural residents are more at risk of financial hardship and vulnerability after the coronavirus pandemic MANY MORE rural residents will be at risk of poverty and financial hardship after lockdown ends unless action is taken, a new study has warned. The study into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns on people in Harris, East Perthshire and Northumberland, was carried out by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Newcastle University and the Impact Hub Inverness It found that as government support schemes end, and other sources of support become more constrained, rural residents will be more at risk of financial hardship and vulnerability – unless appropriate action is taken.
National Sheep Association Pedigree sheep breeders from across the UK will gather this week for the National Sheep Association s Breed Society Forum. The event is returning after a two year absence, having been forced to cancel last year due to Covid-19. It is hoped that this year s online format will provide a long-overdue opportunity for NSA and NSA-affiliated breed societies to exchange information and share updates on their respective activities and priorities. Joining NSA representatives will be some leading names from the UK sheep industry offering information on topics currently affecting the UK pedigree sheep sector, including Marcus Bates and Rob Grinnal from the UK Export Certification Partnership to speak about the latest work on the export of breeding animals from the UK, and Alison Braddock from Scotland’s Rural College discussing the latest developments on work from the Premium Sheep and Goat Health Schemes.
Peat dam to prevent Indonesia Forest Fire (DCIM\219MEDIA) RESEARCHERS FROM Scotland’s Rural College are taking part in an international project to tackle climate risks to tropical peatlands. Emissions from damaged peatlands account for 5% of the global carbon budget, with the majority coming from tropical peatlands which are recognised as “the world’s most important terrestrial carbon store”. Co-led by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Global Peatlands Initiative and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), new research aims to understand how governments, researchers and local communities can work together to tackle climate risks to peatlands in Indonesia, Peru and the Congo Basin.
The consortium brings together leading academic institutes, industrial partners and sheep health experts. The project is led by the Moredun Research Institute and includes Scotland s Rural College (SRUC), Synergy Farm Health, 5 Agri, Nighthawk Software, LSSC Ltd, Datamars Livestock and Elanco Animal Health. Gavin Coates, Director of Nighthawk Software Ltd said: The project is catchily called “Smart sheep: precision livestock farming and sustainable sheep production”. The long and short of it is that Moredon Research from Edinburgh have devised a formula called the “Happy Factor”, which in trials has proven effective at identifying sheep that are likely suffering from worms. By identifying these sheep, farmers can then take a more targeted approach of treating sheep – instead selectively treating animals at high risk, vs the current approach of treating all animals. This has the benefit of greatly reducing the time and cost to the farmer, while also having envir