Digital mapping in office and field.
BE READY FOR LIFE AFTER brexit
On this page of my website, I identify specific examples of how my digital mapping service can help your farm, croft, estate or other rural business work more efficiently and cost effectively.
I cover this subject in a more general manner elsewhere, so please also take a look at this page.
The benefits of digital mapping have been slow to reach crofters, farmers, estate owners, Factors and other land managers. I suspect that this is partly because new technologies often take time to be adopted when the benefits are not well-promoted and the costs are perceived as being too high.
Also, the software is not easy to use and there is a steep learning curve. Few busy owners and managers have the spare capacity to spend weeks becoming acquainted with poorly documented software in order to produce the most basic of maps.
Now that the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) is in its second incarnation, the regulatory agencies are beginning to refuse grant applications if they are not supported by digital maps. Furthermore, RPID's guidance now states clearly that agricultural businesses must keep accurate and up-to-date land records and that any maps that are submitted must comply with their standards.
Fortunately, my digital mapping and land survey costs are reasonable and fixed. I will respond to your enquiry by undertaking a free-of-charge visit to investigate the situation on the ground (or do the same from my desk if there is no need to visit) before I provide you with a written quote that confirms the service that I will provide and the cost of doing it.
There is no obligation, so it is then up to you to decide whether you wish to engage me and take the matter forward.
With the uncertainties regarding BREXIT, the landowner or land manager may think that any new expenditure on digital mapping services is a little premature.
I do not think that this is the correct approach for two main reasons.
Firstly, it appears very likely that all existing contracts and payment arrangements, including the Basic Payment Scheme,will continue to be honoured by RPID until they reach their natural termination date.
Secondly, it seems inconceivable that the schemes featured in the current SRDP will disappear without trace when separation from the EU is finally complete.
Doing that would require a hard-to-justify change of policy from the Scottish Government - particularly where existing schemes provide a public benefit, deliver mitigation against climate change and support activities that improve the environment and increase biodiversity.
In other words, the the Single Farm Payment, the Crofting Agricultural Grants Scheme (CAGS), the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, the Forestry Grant Scheme, the Small Farms Grant Scheme and the Basic Payment Scheme, to name but a few, are all likely to be available to landowners and managers for the foreseeable future - even if their names change the the details are somewhat modified .
If that is not a convincing argument for spending a little time - and money - in working-up future applications and improving the accuracy of your current land holding records and IACS maps, perhaps the following points should be considered:
Cross-compliance checks are likely to continue and an accurate digital map of your land holding will help with the inspection.
The digital mapping process provides a modern management tool for a farm, estate, croft, common grazing or other land-holding. Its provides accurate measurements (i.e. lengths and areas) and it assists with the planning, costing, and implementation of everyday operations such as setting-out, establishing shelter belts, building access tracks, greening, bracken treatments, boundary checks, crop rotation, cultivation records, peatland restoration projects and so on.
Low cost mapping applications for mobile phones now provide the functionality of more complicated and expensive bespoke mobile mapping devices. As a result, it is now easy to gather your own data in the field and use it to plan work and maintain accurate records. When partnered with a desktop PC running free digital mapping software, land managers are able to cheaply produce maps that can be loaded onto a contractor's phone to ensure that they do not plough your set aside ground, for example.
Farmers and crofters wishing to independently develop renewable energy projects will find that an accurate digital map is essential and useful during most stages of planning and implementation.
With very little extra work, the data can be easily adapted to other uses, such as in the production of fire plans to provide emergency responders with the information necessary to find access points, sources of water, work areas and stores of combustible materials. This could save valuable time in the event of a fire, particularly if the local manager or owner is absent at the time. Woodland and forest owners will find such a map equally invaluable and useful from a fire insurance perspective.
There are many other ways in which my digital mapping service can assist landowners and land managers, so please use the details and the contact form here to reach me.
Alternatively, use the links below for more information on a few of the ways I can help.
If you cannot find the information that you need, please consider using the form and contact details here to send me your own requirements or questions.