1. Natural Resources and Agricultural Sustainability in the UK

2. Trip Goals: Inspired by: The Man Who Fed the World
1. ExperientialLearning
2. Technology Transfer
partially funded by a travel grant from
the Norman Borlaug Institute for
International Agriculture
Who was Norman Borlaug?
An agronomist.
• He won the Nobel Peace Prize
• Congressional Gold Medal Winner “Reach for the stars. Although you
• 50 honorary Doctorate Degrees will never touch them, you may get a
• His work on high-yield, disease little stardust on your hands.”
resistant grains helped save billions
- Norman Borlaug (1914 – 2009)
of lives from starvation in: Mexico,
- Agronomist & unsung hero
Asia, Afria, India, and Pakistan
- Father of the Green Revolution

3. Scotland will serve as a Topics to be covered are:
comparative case study • Conservation
of U.S. and Scottish • Energy production
natural resources, land • Farming
use, agricultural • Fisheries
production, and • Forestry
management practices. • Manufacturing
• Sustainable land use
Students will observe • Tourism
how … geography, • and Soil Sampling
culture, history, and
economics help define
sustainable solutions.

4. Inter Disciplinary
• 3 Grad Students
• 4 Undergrads
• 2 Professors
Andrew Gayley
Jason McMillan
Brittany Bates
John Baddeley/SAC
Laura Bradt
Robin Walker/SAC
Rachel Brooks
Rachel Brauner
Ben Meritt

5. Led by Co-Facilitators from the:
Texas A&M
College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences
Dr. Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson
Assistant Professor of
Urban Nutrient and Water Management
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
Dr. Cristine L. Morgan
Assistant Professor of Soil Science
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
Miss Orie Varner (not pictured)
Trip Advisor
Study Abroad Programs Office (SAPO)

6. Houston - London – Aberdeen
• Distance: > 5,000 mi
• Time: 23 hrs? w/ layovers, ash, taxis

7. 1,400 mi Road Trip
• Two Cars
• Figure 8 (Aberdeen to Aberdeen)
• All geographic regions

8. Overview:
Crash-course in the organization of
Scottish technical higher education
Interacted with:
20 Administrators, Instructors, and
Researchers from …
4 Academic and Research Institutes,
and also visited …
9 Active Field Research Stations
Observed all geographic regions

9. Macaulay Land-Use Research Institute
• Soil, environmental studies, and land-use
• DOC in peatlands and upland watersheds
SAC Craibstone Estate, Research Farms
• Long-term crop hill and woodland plots
• Intercropping; nutrient budgets (N, P, K);
weed/pest/disease control; energy
budgets; GHGs; biodiversity; economics
• Also: herbs, oil seeds, pharms, vet srvcs

11. Isles of Mull, Staffa, Iona
• Crofting, sheep, fishing, tourism
• Threatened Corncrake habitat
SAMS, Dunstaffnage
• Salmon farms and benthic ecology
• International consultation
Ben Cruachan Reserve Power Scheme
• 440 MW 22hr Max (12hr Rsv), 28s
• H2O pumped 360m from Loch Awe
• Turbines are below sea level

12. SAC, Bush Estates, CEH
• Cereal trials
• Observe N levels, pest, & disease reaction to
fertilizer / till treatments
• DNA and molecular chemistry lab capabilities
• EGENES: statistical pedigree recordkeeping &
services for cattle, sheep, poultry, and fish

13. Edinburgh’s Royal Mile Scottish Parliament (since 1999)
• Upper: Edinburgh Castle (c. 1093) • ‘Holyrood’ completed in 2004
St. Giles Cathedral Palace of Holyroodhouse
• High Kirk of Edinburgh • Queen’s Residence while in Scotland

14. Whim Moss Peat Bog Experiment Station
• Effects of different forms of N on: lichen,
sphagnum moss, peat moss, heather
• Ammonia, ammonium, nitrate, etc.
• Simulates fertilizers & poultry influence
Auchencorth Moss Carbon Attachment
• EU Air Quality Monitoring ‘Supersite’
• PM10, radiation, temp, rainfall, deposition
flux: of ammonia, NOX, SO2, O3, base ions
• Analyzers / modems in skid-mount bldgs

15. SAC, Crighton Estate @ Dumfries
• SAC Dairy Research Station (UofE)
• Research focused on bovine health, dairy
(milk) production, animal temperament,
and food security
• Experiments: forage, silage, loafing,
furniture, slurry application

16. SAC, Crighton Estate
• Support EGENES with X-ray and CT
Scan services available to top sheep
breeders
• Interesting history and architecture
• Emphasis on food security

17. New Lanark – World Heritage Site
• Largest cotton mill in Great Britain
on the Clyde Falls
• Est. by Robert Owens (1800’s):
industrial & social reformer
• Peregrine Falcon Nesting/Birding
Site

18. SAC Kirkton, Upland Sheep Research Station
• Demonstration farm, providing: ecological,
economic, ultrasound services
• Climate stats & micro-renewables
Loch Region (the Highland Lakes)
• Lochs Etvie, Laggan, Lorn, Awe, Lomond,
Clatteringshaw, and Tay
• Drove through Trossachs National Park

19. Old Tyndrum Lead Mines - near Crianlarich
• On the West Highland Way
• Operational: 18th to early 20th century
• Historic depiction: tools, life, hazards, diet, and
compensation for a typical lead miner
• Soil sampling: upstream, tailing and leachfield
nearcrusher, smelter, downstream floodplain

20. Stirling / Falkirk – on River Forth
• Falkirk Wheel: 13m elevation
• Forth and Clyde Canal: tunnel, lock
system
• Old Stirling Bridge

21. Chaleton Fruit Farms
• Production Farm: tabletop, drip irrigation
• Climate: hoop houses, biodegradable plastic row cover
Cairngorms National Park
• Ecology, mature forests, stream geomorphology, land
management, and DOC in streams

24. Land Management:
• Scotland: 1/9 size of Texas
• Population: 1/5 Texas
• 75% in less favored areas
• Crop rotation and stewardship
Water Quality:
• 3X rainfall of Texas
• Peat bog leachate, fertilizer runoff,
manure impacts, erosion, lochs
Air Quality:
• Agriculture is significant contributor
• NO2 has 300X warming potential of CO2
• 80% reduction mandated by Kyoto

25. Triple Point:
• Stewardship – Water Quality – Air Quality
• Falls within a range dictated by:
- Market Price
- System Health
- Waste Minimization
- Energy Conservation
- Aesthetics of the land
• The moving target is: Balance
The ‘balance’ seemed to be confounded by another
intangible factor:
• Heightened nationwide Social Conscious
• Regarding food production and consumption
• Noticed ‘Fairtrade’ labels in almost every store
What is Fairtrade?

26. Between 2004 to 2007:
Scotland and Wales strove to become the
world’s first Fairtrade Nations
Mission:
Fairtrade is about better prices, decent
working conditions, local sustainability, and
fair terms of trade for farmers and workers
in the developing world. By requiring
companies to pay sustainable prices (which
must never fall lower than the market price),
Fairtrade addresses the injustices of
conventional trade, which traditionally
discriminates against the poorest, weakest
producers. It enables them to improve their
position and have more control over their
lives.
Buy local – otherwise buy fair.

27. Parting Thought:
• Old Mediterranean proverb:
“a triple braided rope is not easily broken”
• In our case, those braids might be:
Fair Trade - Stewardship – Education
Finally:
• Thanks to Dr. Peterson, Dr. Morgan, and Orie
• They breathed life into an old quote by the
German educator, Kurt Hahn:
“Tell me, and I may forget. Show me, and I may
remember. Involve me, and I'll understand”
The group definitely has a better understanding
of Natural Resources and Agricultural
Sustainability in Scotland.

28. Big Thanks –
it was brilliant!

29. Excerpts from Original Translation
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, Fair is your honest happy face
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race! Great chieftain of the pudding race
Aboon them a' ye tak your place, Above them all you take your place
Painch, tripe, or thairm: Stomach, tripe or guts
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace Well are you worthy of a grace
As lang's my arm. As long as my arm
But mark the Rustic, haggis fed, But take note of the strong haggis fed Scot
The trembling earth resounds his tread. The trembling earth resounds his tread
Clap in his walie nieve a blade, Clasped in his large fist a blade
He'll mak it whissle; He'll make it whistle
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned, And legs and arms and heads he will cut off
Like taps o' thrissle. Like the tops of thistles
Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care, You powers who make mankind your care
And dish them out their bill o' fare, And dish them out their meals
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware Old Scotland wants no watery food
That jaups in luggies; That splashes in dishes
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer, But if you wish her grateful prayer
Gie her a haggis! Give her a haggis!