Skills Development Programme 2025: Pasture Management

The third Skills Development Programme (Scotland) training session of 2025.

This training session will be hosted at Dalhanna Farming Co with training delivered by Joe Kidd in association with Pasture for Life, providing attendees with: a comprehensive understanding of the planning and decision underpinning Pasture Management in livestock systems, as well demonstration and discussion on the tools and skills involved monitoring, budgeting and allocating forage.

The training session will consist of:

• Main presentaton and group discussion led by Joe

This presentation and discussion will cover: Making an annual assesment of forage demand, highlighting pinch points in the growing and dormant season, matching animal demand to forage supply, different grazing approaches (such as mob grazing/leader-follower) that can be applied to an annual grazing strategy, how pasture growth stage affects quality, and much more...

• Lunch and Refreshments

Included in the ticket price, lunch, as well as tea and coffee, will be provided during the day

• An afternoon 'in the field' workshop and talk led by Joe, Pasture for Life, and staff from Dalhanna Farm

This will consist of further observation and discussion, building on learnings presented by Joe from the morning session while also providing attendees with an understanding of measuring grass, allocating forage based on demand and supply, and using basic and inexpensive equipment to deteming forage quality and quanitity.

A £20 discount is available to Pasture to Life members booking a place on this training session, reducing the cost of this session from £85 to £65. This will be refunded upon conformation of a Pasture for Life membership after booking a place at full price.

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Financial assistance may available to cover the cost of this training session. If you live in Scotland go to SkillsHub.scot to browse training funds.

Trainer Info

Joe’s family have been farming in the Eden valley near Penrith for five generations, most recently as dairy farmers. But Joe is a very different kind of farmer from his ancestors or neighbours. He grows cows and sheep for market and calls himself a farmer-trader.

It took a while for Joe to catch the farming bug. “As a child I wasn’t interested in farming – it seemed boring and simple. I craved problem solving,” he says. “But after losing my job in a pub at fifteen I began milking cows for a local Nuffield scholar who was a fantastic mentor and inspiration.”

Today, Joe fattens both sheep and cattle on the 200-acre (81-hectare) family farm, constantly keeping an eye on markets to judge when to buy and sell to the commodity market for maximum profit. In particular, Joe monitors religious festivals when demand for certain meats will be high. “The number and type of animals I have is never constant, but varies according to market conditions,” he says.

He also grows barley and forage crops, both used to feed the livestock. Some is also sold to the commodity market. In addition, Joe works as an independent farm advisor, specialising in grants and systems advice. He’s also looking to diversify into areas such as tourism and storage.