THE Scottish Government is to make £2 million available to fund projects which will promote skills development, knowledge transfer, and deliver on-the-ground improvements to the farming sector in Scotland.

Five projects have been approved for funding through the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KTIF), including the Monitor Farm programme, which will receive £1.25m and aims to improve productivity and farm business profitability.

Making the announcement, Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "This significant funding will help Scotland take advantage of its strong performance in research and development, and make sure that the learning from here and elsewhere can be transferred to on-the-ground improvements in agriculture, ensuring the flow of information and best practice into the community, where it can make a real difference to profits."

Grants will be awarded to the following projects:

*QMS and AHDB Cereals & Oilseeds - to establish nine innovative Monitor Farms across Scotland.

*SAC Commercial - to improve lamb survival and farm profitability.

*SAOS - to pilot an innovative and interactive farm-focused lean management approach.

*AHDB Potatoes - to develop a strategic Potato (SPOT) Farm for Scotland.

*Wholesome Pigs Scotland Ltd - to develop innovative uses of emerging technologies to improve pig production efficiency.

Meanwhile, Stephen Hutt, CEO of the Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) has announced that he is to leave the Society at the end of April, after 5 years in the post, to join Perth-based Green Highland Renewables as Chief Financial Officer.

Market round-up

United Auctions sold 114 pedigree Charolais bulls at Stirling on Tuesday to a top of 26,000gns for a 19-months-old bull from Hamish Goldie, while another from Mr Goldie's consignment fetched the second top price of 23,00gns.

Despite the auctioneer coaxing another 11 five-figure bids from cautious breeders, the overall average at the end of a selective trading session levelled at £6,006 (-£815 on the year for a 64 per cent clearance).

Wallets Marts sold 693 prime hoggs in Castle Douglas on Tuesday to a top of £100 per head and 208.8p per kg to average 180.5p (-3.8p on the week).

The firm also had 249 cast sheep forward that met a sharper trade on the week with ewes selling to £126 for a Suffolk and £76 for Blackfaces.