Elrick Prize winner recognised for advancing crofting on her native Skye

A senior agricultural consultant who has helped advance crofting and farming practices on her native island of Skye has been named as this year’s winner of the Elrick Prize.

Janette Sutherland, who started out as a graduate trainee with SAC Consulting (part of SRUC) more than 20 years ago in 2005, works closely with her fellow crofters and farmers, helping inspire land management changes that have also benefited local wildlife.

The Senior Consultant becomes the fifth winner of the Elrick Prize, which recognises staff members at SAC Consulting who have made a major contribution to improving the sustainability of land use.

The prize was first awarded in 2022 in memory of Senior Consultant Gavin Elrick.

Gavin, who was part of SAC Consulting’s food and footprint team, helped Scottish agriculture become more sustainable by sharing his vast knowledge with farmers and crofters across the country. His untimely death in November 2020 came as a shock to colleagues and the wider rural community.

Janette, who says Gavin was an inspiration to her, was chosen as this year’s winner after judges said she had earned the respect of her crofters and clients and had been involved in ‘some really excellent work in the field of sustainable farming and crofting’.

That work has included the Skye Crofting Corncrake partnership, the Crofting Policy Spotlight ‘Common grazing in the age of conditionality’ and her work with Species on the Edge, developing awareness of bats’ influence on biodiversity.

Janette said: “Gavin would come to Skye as part of the Farm Advisory Service and he had so much knowledge, particularly on soils, which we would benefit from.

“He was a very kind colleague and incredibly generous with his time and expertise. He led an industry qualification called FACTS, which inspired me, and I’m proud to now have a qualification which has such a close link to him. And, of course, to win the Elrick prize is an honour I’m very proud of.”

The Skye Crofting Corncrake Partnership has successfully led to a resurgence in numbers of the endangered corncrake species on the island.

And Janette has also been a strong supporter of another collaborative conservation initiative, Species on the Edge, which raises awareness of the influence bats have on biodiversity.

She added: “It is hard work being a crofter and they don’t tend to have a lot of spare time, so we try to fit initiatives like this into a wider crofting theme so they can be as involved as possible.

“A lot of it is about raising awareness – for example, with bats, they are a good indicator species. If a croft is supporting bats, that’s an indicator that the right things are being done and you have a healthy ecosystem.

“When we point out that a pipistrelle bat can eat 30,000 midges a night, that also helps!”

Alongside her team, Janette has built up relationships with generations of crofting families on Skye over the years.

She said: “We liaise with crofters whose grandfathers we may previously had a close working relationship with, so we build up that partnership over the long term.

“Trust is built and they know we are trying to create situations that are win-wins for them.”

Posted by SAC Consulting on 20/02/2026