This year’s Arable Scotland is all about farming in a new era. It’s about how the future is already here and the challenges that brings, from climate and weather chaos to biodiversity loss and the impact of global events on key supply chains. To unpick what some of this means, as an appetiser for Arable Scotland, we have special guests from Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development board (AHDB), alongside our very own Hutton agroecologist Ali Karley to discuss the challenges.

Host:
Elaine Maslin, Media Officer (Aberdeen) at the Hutton

Guests:
David Webster, chief executive of LEAF. David joined LEAF from the UK Grocery Division of Associated British Foods where he was Director of Sustainability and External Affairs. He cut his teeth with Jordans (Cereals), working closely with founders Bill and David Jordan on their breakfast cereal brand and a commitment to wildlife friendly farming.

Adrian James, knowledge exchange manager for cereals and oilseeds in Scotland for the AHDB. sAdrian comes from a mixed farm background in Herefordshire before moving into farm management in Sussex and Kent. He moved to Scotland in 2017 and took up his current role with AHDB in 2022, and he is deputy chair of the Arable Scotland committee.

Dr Alison Karley, an agroecologist here at the Hutton with more than 25 years’ experience in plant production and ecology. Ali leads the integrated cropping systems group at the Hutton and her work contributes towards crop diversification and integrated pest and disease management (IPM) research at the institute. Ali is chair of the Arable Scotland committee.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, including how to attend Arable Scotland, visit:

Arable Scotland
LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming)
AHDB

Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into some of the discussion you can get involved in at this year’s Arable Scotland.

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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We’re joined by guests from North East Climate Action Network and the North East Biodiversity Partnership alongside insect and agroecology experts at the Hutton to talk about pollinators. There’s more to them than you think, including moths being a surprise night time super pollinator. We talk through some pollinator bugbears, no mow May and all the different ways you can support our pollinator populations.

Host:
Elaine Maslin, Media Officer (Aberdeen) at the Hutton

Guests:
Rose Toney, an ecologist and community development officer at the North East Scotland Climate Action Network (NESCAN).
Abbi Ferrar, coordinator of the North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (or NESBiP).
Dr Jenni Stockan, an expert in insect ecology and conservation at the Hutton.
Dr Ali Karley, agroecologist at the Hutton.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

NESCAN Hub
North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (nesbiodiversity.org.uk)
Managing-grassland-road-verges_
Helping Scotland's Pollinators

We hope this episode leaves you buzzing to help our pollinators!

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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Today we’re talking truffles and a super rare truffle discovery that’s been made recently in Scotland by one of our scientists. It’s discovery in an ancient Scottish rainforest restoration site – where the spruce tree the truffle lives in symbiosis with is being removed – does raise some interesting conservation questions.

Host:

Elaine Maslin, Media Officer (Aberdeen) at the Hutton

Guests:

Richard Thompson, native woodland ecologist from Scottish Forestry and Land.
Dr Andy Taylor, molecular fungal ecologist at the Hutton.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

Globally rare truffle found in Scottish Atlantic rainforest | The James Hutton Institute
Glen Creran - Forestry and Land Scotland
Home - Forestry and Land Scotland

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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In our latest Hutton Highlights, we speak with experts and growers about what could be Scotland’s fifth soft fruit – the honeyberry. We hear how it’s not only a superfood, but one that’s also well suited to Scotland’s climate. It could help farms diversify as well as bring benefits to their land, from an environmental perspective. We found out how this new fruit found its way to Scotland and the Scottish Honeyberry Growers cooperative’s plans to get more of them into our diets.

Host:
Elaine Maslin, Media Officer (Aberdeen) at the Hutton

Guests:
Dr Louise Gamble, soft fruit high health facility manager, at the Hutton
Peter Arbuckle, from Arbuckles, who grow and sell soft fruit.
And Caroline Black, who works with her husband on their family-owned farm, while also working for the Scottish Honey Berry Growers Association.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

• Scottish Honeyberry Growers | The Honeyberry Experts
• Comparative analysis of quality and nutritional traits from Lonicera caerulea (Honeyberry) cultivars and other berries grown in Scotland - Gamble - 2023 - Annals of Applied Biology - Wiley Online Library
• Watch: Fruit for the Future - Honeyberry
• Arbuckle's Farm Shop (arbuckles.co.uk)

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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Flooding is an issue that’s increasingly high on the agenda. What’s behind these events, what exacerbates them, why are the obvious solutions maybe not so easy to implement and what can we do to be more prepared for the next one? We take a dip into these stormy waters with scientists from across our environmental and social sciences teams.

Host:
Elaine Maslin, Media Officer (Aberdeen) at the Hutton

Guests:
Dr Marc Stutter, a senior scientist focusing on river catchment management
Dr Mark Wilkinson, a senior research scientist in catchment hydrology.
Dr Mags Currie, a senior researcher in our social sciences team who has looked at the longer-term impacts of flood events on people.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:
Achieving multi-purpose nature-based solutions
Long-term impacts of flooding
Scottish river water levels: SEPA Water Levels

Don’t forget to visit us at www.hutton.ac.uk

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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Day to day, few give much thought to clay. But it’s a substance that goes a long way – literally and metaphorically. It’s a natural material with ever expanding qualities and uses, from showing if there was life on Mars to complex medicinal delivery systems. It’s all pervasive in our lives – it’s in everything from packing material and cat litter to toothpaste. It’s also a specialism here at the Hutton. So in this episode of Hutton Highlights, we take a delve into the world of clay.

Host:

Elaine Maslin, Media Officer at the Hutton

Guests:

Professor Steve Hiller, soil mineralogist
Dr Stuart Turner, mineralogist
Helen Pendlowski, XRPD mineralogist
Dr Nia Gray-Wannell, clay mineralogist

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

About Us | Clays and Minerals

X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) | James Hutton Ltd

https://www.minersoc.org/images-of-clay.html

Don’t forget to visit us at www.hutton.ac.uk

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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In the final episode of our three-part pod on the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, we’re joined again by NatureScot to look more at who gets a say in the changes we need to make, who can we trust and who benefits from doing things differently. Do we need a different type of democracy to tackle biodiversity loss?

Host:
Elaine Maslin, Media Officer at the Hutton

Guests:
Professor Robin Pakeman, plant ecologist at The James Hutton Institute and lead author of the report on the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss.

Dr Clive Mitchell, Strategic Resource Manager for Nature and Climate Change, NatureScot.

Dr Kerry Waylen, senior researcher in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences department at The James Hutton Institute.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

NatureScot Research Report 1309 - Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland | NatureScot
NatureScot
Considerable change needed to stop nature loss in Scotland | The James Hutton Institute

Don’t forget to visit us at www.hutton.ac.uk

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

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In our second pod in a three-part series looking at what’s really driving biodiversity loss in Scotland, we’re again joined by NatureScot and this time look at how doing the right thing isn’t as straight forward as it seems, not least around land use, our food systems, the increasing demands on farming and how choices made in Scotland could impact biodiversity elsewhere.

Host:

Elaine Maslin, Media Officer at the Hutton

Guests:

Professor Robin Pakeman, plant ecologist at The James Hutton Institute and lead author of the report on the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss.

Dr Clive Mitchell, Strategic Resource Manager for Nature and Climate Change, NatureScot.

For more information about what you’ve heard in this podcast, visit:

NatureScot Research Report 1309 - Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland | NatureScot
NatureScot
Considerable change needed to stop nature loss in Scotland | The James Hutton Institute

Don’t forget to visit us at www.hutton.ac.uk

Thanks for listening, we hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our world.

We look forward to bringing you more insight the world across food, energy and environmental security in future episodes of the Hutton Highlights podcast.

Remember to subscribe and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.