Propagate, Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, and NFU Scotland  have hosted another successful knowledge exchange day bringing together farmers, land managers, and organisations connected with production of food, fibre and forestry nationwide.

The annual conference aims to foster peer-to-peer knowledge-exchange and explore how farming can be good for the environment while maximising profitability. Rotating locations year by year to maximise accessibility, Farming for the Future 2025 took place at the Carrick Centre in Maybole.

With a theme of ‘Nature and Resilience’, this year’s event was chaired by Dumfriesshire farmer and former NFUS President Andrew McCornick, with a programme of speakers that included farmers from across the south of Scotland who are using a variety of agricultural systems and approaches and farming on widely different scales. Themed breakout sessions covered trees on farms, resilient dairy and vegetable production, allowing for deeper dives and exchanges with farmers from Nature Friendly Farming Network, the Ethical Dairy, Girvan Early Growers, and others who travelled from across Scotland to participate.

Antoine Lemaire, the GSA Biosphere’s Nature Recovery Officer, said: “With a third farmers’ conference complete we believe this event is firmly embedded in the region’s agricultural calendar as a standout opportunity to gather and share experiences in growing, producing, and managing land. We’re immensely grateful to all our speakers and everyone who joined us in Maybole for this important event and look forward to staying connected with participants through the array of initiatives facilitated by the GSA Biosphere Partnership, Propagate and NFU Scotland.”

Abi Mordin, Co-Director of Propagate, said: “I’m delighted with how the event went. I think what we get right is bringing all types of farmers together, to find common ground and share knowledge and ideas. We’re building bridges and breaking down barriers. We couldn't get people to leave at the end - the buzz of conversation was amazing.

Our partnership with the GSA Biosphere Partnership and NFUS goes from strength to strength, we’re already planning next year’s conference”.

Judith Hutchinson, Chapel Farm, Moffat, said: “Great event. Brilliant speakers and lots to bring home and think about. My take-home messages include benefits of planting trees on farm and importance of soil function – it’s soil biology that does the soil chemistry, and its soil biology that does the soil physics.”