SAOS Update Winter '23/24

update

Winter ‘23/24 - News from, and for, Scotland’s farmer co-ops

SAOS Conference Focus on our Food and Drink Future It’s beginning to look a lot like conference time (particularly as our conference date is a week earlier than usual)!

We’re back at Dunblane Hydro on 18th January and look forward to a day of sharing Working Together views on the possibilities for the future.

Although there are undoubtedly challenges, to Deliver our Food we believe there are also opportunities for our and Drink Future food and farming sector to become a leader in the production of sustainable food and drink, supplying Scotland and the wider world. But, for this to happen, the whole supply chain must work together more effectively.

As a long-established supporter and delivery partner of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership, we want to demonstrate how co-ops and co-operation can play a key part in the successful delivery of the ‘Sustaining Scotland.

Supplying the World’ industry strategy. Helping our sector become more resilient, more sustainable and achieve more growth is vital, and we’ll be showcasing some of the great work already well underway by our co-op members.

We’ve built in even more networking time in response to feedback and we’re delighted with our line up of speakers!

We’ll hear from our former colleague Amanda Brown, now Programme Director for the new Scotland Food & Drink strategy, who will outline the vision for this and the goals and priorities for achieving its success.

Session 1 Resilience Nicolai Hansen, former CEO at KMC Amba in Denmark, will share the co-op’s evolutionary journey to survive and thrive.

Member showcase - We’ll hear from SAOS co-op member, Scottish Shellfish, about how they have adapted their business strategy to become a firmly-established supplier to every multiple supermarket in the UK. Session 2 Sustainability Respected farmer, researcher and agri-sustainability policy expert, Professor John Gilliland OBE, will examine the opportunities for the beef and lamb/ruminant sector to tackle the Net Zero challenge head-on.

Member showcase - We’ll hear from Robin Barron, East of Scotland Farmers, on their work, and the challenges, in moving towards the decarbonisation of malting barley.

Session 3 Growth Collaboration showcase - We’ll hear from Patrick Hughes, SAOS’s Strategic Services Director about the Scottish Agri Export Hub, created to help primary producers develop new export opportunities and expand their existing markets.

Shelagh Hancock, Chief Executive of co-op member First Milk, will focus on the growth potential for First Milk, and the Scottish dairy sector, built around a demonstrable sustainability proposition.

Please stay on and and join us for dinner if you can. Our pre-dinner drinks reception will be the venue for the presentation of the biennial Ed Rainy Brown Award. And, after dinner, Bob Yuill will be helping us raise some funds for RSABI (as well as some smiles with his ‘wee stories) with our ‘rauction’ - that’s a combination of a raffle and an auction for those who missed last year’s! (Please get in touch if you’d like to offer a prize.)

Our sponsors once again are NFU Mutual and Ledingham Chalmers and we are very grateful for their support.

Book online at https://saosconf24.eventbee.com

saos news and views

SAOS Calls for Additional Agri Bill Policy SAOS has called for the addition of policy to support and encourage greater co-operation to increase farmers’ power in the supply chain as part of the new Scottish Agriculture Bill.

Speaking ahead of SAOS’s AgriScot seminar ‘Back to the Future – why co-ops are right for right now’, Tim Bailey, Chief Executive, said: “Our session today highlights the strength and breadth of Scotland’s agri co-ops which, with a combined turnover of around £1 billion, we know are the ‘quiet engine room’ of Scottish agriculture.

We’ll hear today about what some co-ops are already achieving for members, but there is so much untapped potential there for tackling many of our key farming challenges.

“The new Scottish Agriculture Bill has been laid before parliament and we agree with the policy outcomes to support rural communities, food production, and practices that protect and restore the natural environment, and tackle climate change. But we are calling for an additional policy outcome focused on improving the position of farmers in the food chain and we firmly believe that co-operation is key to that, as well as creating resilience in the Scottish agricultural sector, and enhancing sustainable, long-term, food security.

“Farmers are being asked to produce more food more efficiently, cutting emissions and mitigating against weather events – just for starters. Most co-ops were initially founded to overcome challenges, and with modern day farmers facing more challenges than ever before, co-ops offer solutions on many levels. Today’s four farmer speakers are, between them, members of seven of the 63 active farmer co-ops spread all over Scotland, and we’ll hear why co-op membership makes sense to them and their businesses.

“Co-operation strengthens the farmer’s position which is particularly key for safeguarding small family farms.

Sharing ownership and common goals creates greater engagement, and these rural co-ops also create jobs and

help protect their local communities. These are just a few of the many reasons that make great business sense to farmers and, although it’s rarely mentioned, another is that working together for mutual benefit is a lot more appealing than going it alone, particularly when tackling challenges.”

David Michie, SAOS’s Co-op Development Manager, added: “We believe that policy to encourage cooperation and pooled resources would help strengthen the position of farmers in the value chain. With all the noise around ‘direct payments versus environmental payments’, the importance of having fairer market returns has been neglected. As well as addressing both farming income and environmental challenges, adding the policy outcome of ‘Improving the position of farmers in the food chain’ would also enable Scottish Government to ‘keep pace’ with the EU – which they have stated as a government priority.”

“In real terms, the financial value of policy support has reduced significantly within this SRDP. Supporting Scottish farmers to receive more value from the supply chain is crucial for business resilience against this backdrop of funding decline. What’s vitally needed is a commitment for multi-annual payments that go alongside the five-year Rural Support Plan, and for the government to set out clearly how funding will be used to meet its objectives. This would provide certainty for farm businesses and encourage strategic innovation and investment.” David concluded.

SAOS has responded to the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Bill) Scotland consultation, making these points and we’re encouraging our co-ops and their members to do the same. We will be in touch with members in the near future with further details on this.

AgriScot Seminar Showcases Benefits for Farmer Co-op Members As mentioned above, our seminar at AgriScot in November was entitled ‘Back to the Future – why co-ops are right for right now’. Our aim was to raise greater awareness about the ways that co-ops help farmers, particularly in challenging times.

We were delighted to have a great line up of co-op ‘muddy boots’ members to speak about how their co-ops work for them - Amy Geddes who is a member of Scottish Agronomy (and Ringlink); Martin MacDonald from Highland Grain (and HBS); Andrew Marchant of Tarff Valley (and FarmStock) and Scott Calderwood who is a member director of First Milk Our audience was perhaps ‘quality over quantity’ - we’re well aware that there is so much going on at AgriScot that we’re a up against it a bit to get a big turnout, but it was really great to hear from our speakers who each conveyed really eloquently why being a co-op member works for them. There were also some good questions from the audience, prompting us to think about exploring possible new ways for co-ops to work together. We also plan to reuse the content of the session in different ways to help with awareness raising.

saos news and views

Remuneration Practices in Agri Co-ops SAOS and Co-ops UK recently conducted a remuneration survey, to establish current practices on director fees and expenses. Director recruitment is critical for a business’s continued success, and the remuneration package is a key component in attracting the best directors to the board.

The findings will help support and inform agri co-ops in their decision-making process around the remuneration of non-executive directors, alongside providing recommendations around succession and diversity. These include: • Director remuneration is wide-ranging, with a significant correlation being made between size of business and fees paid to directors.

• Women are under-represented on co-op boards. The survey does show a significant increase in the number of women directors compared to the 2017 survey though.

• Less than half of businesses surveyed have a board succession policy in place. Finding the quality and calibre

of directors to ensure a long prosperous future is vital and should be a higher priority.

• Board diversity is poor. This requires addressing to promote richer discussions and improved decision-making through the inclusion of people with varied perspectives, skills, ages, genders, cultures, and ethnicities.

Anna Delday, SAOS Co-op Development Manager, commented: “Rewarding directors for their time and commitment is key to ensuring business success and is one of the most important conversations a board will have each year. We hope these findings will support conversations around the appropriate reward process for directors, to attract, motivate and retain individuals, and reward them for time away from their core farming business. Finally, but importantly, we’d like to thank the co-ops who took the time to support us in gathering the information.”

Contact Anna.delday@saos.coop for more info.

UK Gov Visit Highlights Export Potential for Scottish Producers In October, SAOS welcomed Karen Morgan, Deputy Director International Trade: Agriculture Food and Drink for the Department of Business and Trade (DBT), on her whistlestop tour of Scotland. During the visit, the team introduced Karen to Aberdeenshire-based primary agriculture businesses active in the export market.

Karen visited DM Cargill an exporter of Scottish seed potatoes.

Pictured, left to right: Jim Cargill, Tom Cargill, Patrick Hughes of SAOS and Karen Morgan.

Jim Cargill is the vice-chair of the Seed Potato Organisation, the independent and democratic organisation, set up as a co-operative, and run by seed growers for the benefit of its members.

The tour also included a visit to Oat Co. Scotland, which was cofounded by the Booths and Russells, two families with generations of farming heritage and farms just five miles apart. They’ve been growing Scottish oats for decades, with every new generation holding the same goal — to care for the land and make it even better for the next.

The families also have a long history of co-operation and this co-operative approach led them to start planning a new joint venture — to build a dedicated gluten-free oat mill for the production of pure, healthy oat products.

The visit proved an excellent platform to discuss the export potential of primary Scottish agriculture and where the Department of Business and Trade can assist in the sector to help realise the export potential.

Register Interest now for Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders ‘24/25 As 2023 draws to a close, now’s the perfect time to plan for future growth. Whether that’s thinking about what’s next for your organisation, or considering your own development journey, SAOS is here to help and support you.

grow, the GTL programme is tailored to expand your horizons and enhance your leadership potential, helping participants: •

Entering its third year, Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders is SAOS’s flagship training programme, designed and developed with insights from industry experts to fast track potential farming and rural business leaders.

Gain invaluable tools for organisational and professional growth.

•

Join a vibrant, mutually-supportive network of likeminded individuals.

•

Cultivate a positive mindset and embrace new ways of thinking and doing.

•

Equip yourself with the skills to become a stronger leader for tomorrow.

What sets Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders apart is its diversity. This immersive, six-month course is open to individuals with a leadership mindset at any stage of their career journey. Whether you’re an experienced business owner, a dedicated rural co-op director, a seasoned manager, or an emerging leader eager to

We’ll be launching applications for our 2024/25 programme in Spring 2024. Register interest by emailing emma.koubayssi@saos.coop

Successful Visit From SAOS’s Irish ‘Sister Organisation’

saos news and views

SAOS welcomed a group of five senior staff from ICOS (the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society) in October.

There have been links between SAOS and ICOS for many years, and a jointly-held belief that there could be real benefits for the organisations to work more collaboratively. Both share a common history, having been formed in the early 1900’s through the influence of Sir Horace Plunkett. Plunkett was an Anglo-Irish landowner and reformer, who was a pioneer of agricultural co-ops and credited with the creation of the specialised co-op development organisations.

Over the two-days, staff from both organisations enjoyed discussions on a range of topics of mutual interest. With the visit coinciding with the rugby World Cup there was a lot of healthy banter over that!

Our ICOS visitors pictured at Ingliston, left to right: Ray Doyle (marts, livestock, animal health); James Doyle (legal, governance), John Brosnan (Bioeconomy) all ICOS; Tim Bailey, SAOS; Billy Goodburn The group also undertook a couple of visits - to Scottish (Head of Learning and Development at ICOS); Robert Logan, SAOS; Agronomy, hosted by MD Adam Christie, and Tayforth T J Flanagan, ICOS CEO; and David Michie, SAOS.

Machinery Ring, hosted by manager Bruce Hamilton.

These stimulated lots of discussion around co-op development and the importance of ensuring effective member engagement.

Although there are similarities, there are also some significant differences. The co-operation participation rate of Irish farmers is double that of Scotland, at 70%. ICOS is larger, having some 130 co-op members, collectively representing 150,000 members. Irish agriculture is dominated by the dairy sector and their large dairy co-ops. Another major difference is the contribution of member affiliation fees to ICOS’s income, at just over 60% (the equivalent figure for SAOS is only 2%)!

TJ Flannagan, ICOS’s CEO, commented “We were very keen to visit our sister organisation in Scotland.

We’d had a really good relationship for years, and we’d had some great visiting speakers from SAOS at various conferences, as well as visiting groups over the years. I was conscious that SAOS had real experience and expertise in areas that we probably hadn’t been focussing on, and vice versa. I felt that there was an opportunity to share experiences and maybe learn from and support each other in serving our members.”

Jim Booth, SAOS, who organised the trip, commented: “Although we’ve known each other over many years, we’ve never formally undertaken any joint initiatives.

The key to getting closer is building strong personal relationships, based on mutual trust and respect.

We identified four areas of common interest and are continuing to work together to share thinking and experiences and hopefully a deeper collaboration between our organisations. After all, one of the 7 principles of co-operation is ‘Co-operation amongst co-operatives’. We need to set the example for all our co-op members in an increasingly global and uncertain world.”

Other News and Views in Brief Cattle EID moves a step closer!

A report published by ScotEID in September confirmed that UHF testing under commercial conditions at farms, marts and abattoirs has confirmed that the technology is reliable and presents significant opportunities and advantages over the alternative LF-EID. Read the full report at: https://scoteid.com/node/135

Please Take the Land Matching Survey!

The Scottish Land Matching Service (SLMS) was set up to support matches of those seeking land with those who have land and can address these difficulties.

Please complete this short survey to help with understanding the motivations and barriers of making land available to others. Scan the QR code here to take the quick survey or go to: https://surveymonkey.co.uk/ r/3W5VRHX

AgriTech Farmers’ Survey Results 2023

AgriTech is developing quickly in the sector and farmers are adopting these technologies in different ways to drive efficiency in their systems, use data to inform improved decision making and reduce inputs.

SAOS is a member of the programme team which conducted a survey recently to understand farmers’ attitudes towards new technology.

View the results at: https://bit.ly/483VHu7

Profitable Year on Balance for EoSF

co-ops news

Chairman Pete Grewar reported to East of Scotland Farmers’ November AGM on the 12 months to 31st May ‘23 - “a record-breaking period on many counts” with some of those welcome others not. On balance, the good outweighed the bad for a profitable year for EOSF and its members.

“In the list of positives, we can include the weather, which delivered a straightforward harvest with superb grain quality and low drying costs.

Yields in this area were excellent with record highs for spring barley, wheat and OSR. Prices were also at record levels with our grain pools paying out between £32 and £80/t more than ever before and OSR matching the previous year’s high. Gross margins for members were therefore very strong, despite higher input costs.

Total grain handled by the Society reached 93,672 tonnes and after (minimal) drying we marketed over 90,000 tonnes of dried grain & OSR for the first time. Our turnover reached £37.04m, an increase of £8.7m from last year’s previous record high of £28.3m.

At £427,019, profit before tax has only been bettered once before. This pleasing bottom line was achieved after completing a number of one-off repairs, including the over-cladding of the main building roof which was a significant cost in itself. Every department contributed to this performance with record turnover and contribution from fertiliser and seed sales and the Country Store, a record area of crops under the management of our agronomy team, a best ever contribution from our lorries and the aforementioned record tonnage of grain handled and marketed from harvest 2022 (including 65,0000t of malting barley) with relatively easy and cheap drying.

It wasn’t all easy of course and some of our costs also reached record levels. Members have had to pay significantly higher prices for inputs, especially fertiliser, the effects of which will be more evident in 2023 gross margins. Energy prices rose, and although they have settled to some extent, gas and electricity are still significantly more expensive than they were two years ago. Inflation has been rampant for all goods and services and interest rates have risen significantly. We live in a world that is more uncertain, risky and volatile than it was before the triple whammy of Brexit, Covid and the invasion of Ukraine.

Furthermore, the pressure on nations, businesses and individuals to reduce emissions and to be sustainable continues to mount. The solutions are not easy to implement, or even to identify, but EOSF is leading a project to investigate how malting barley can be produced more sustainably and that work is ongoing.”

In his thanks, Pete paid particular tribute to Iain Stevenson who stood down from the Board at the AGM after 40 years of service. “That is an amazing contribution for one member to make to our Society and we are all due him a debt of gratitude. Thanks are also due to David Smith who leaves the board after 12 years of service.”

He closed by commenting that the current year’s harvest was a much more challenging one:“It is in adverse years like this that the benefits of EOSF membership are often greatest. As ever, thanks to all members of Team EOSF: members, staff and directors, for your commitment and loyalty to our co-operative.”

FarmStock Member Throughputs Jump With very strong demand from a UK wide network of processors, Farm Stock Scotland members are seeing the benefits of very strong prices for both prime lambs and cattle as well as cast cows. Prime lamb values are running well ahead of last year, with values typically up on average between £5-10/ head. Cattle values are running significantly ahead of 2022, with cull cows on average trading at £97/head above 2022 levels.

Half way through the financial year, livestock units traded through the co-op has broken through the 100,000 level with livestock volumes up 7% on the year. Vicky Warcup, Farm Stock Scotland Director explained: ”We are seeing more livestock producers benefit from our 7 day prime stock payment terms. With prime stock prices at record levels, coupled with changes in processor ownership, producers want the security of knowing their money is guaranteed by our external credit insurance.” She added: “I am delighted with our throughputs, the best we have achieved in four years, which is even more positive given the reduced numbers of livestock on farms nationally.”

Jonny Williams, Farm Stock Scotland Director continued: “The whole team is working especially hard and with volumes

riding high and an increased pool of abattoir buyers, we are confident about the outlook for the rest of the year and into 2024”. He added, “With DEFRA and AHDB reporting lamb numbers being back a massive 4.9% in England, this points to continued tighter volumes of UK lambs coming forward.

“With European lamb prices also buoyant, the only cloud is the potential for cheaper imports to enter from New Zealand and Australia. Whatever happens with the trade, the whole Farm Stock team will continue to endeavour to maximise returns for our farmer members.”

Further Commitment to Learning Opportunities From Ringlink

co-ops news

Ringlink has pledged its support to the Young Person’s Guarantee, the nationwide initiative commited to connecting every 16 to 24 year old in Scotland to an opportunity, whether that be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering. Operations manager Gail Robertson said: “Ringlink believes in creating opportunities for young people as they prepare for the world of work. Our pledge is to attend career events, deliver employability support, mentor young people and offer work experience placements. Our own Land-based Pre-apprenticeship gives young people experience of working in the rural sector. We understand the importance of training, qualifications and skills in developing the next generation of the workforce, as well as providing the experience and insight for them to step confidently into the world of work.”

The Pre-apprenticeship is a pathway for progression within the wider rural sector, allowing new entrants to earn and learn in the workplace whilst also gaining a vocational qualification. Applications are now open for June 2024.

Elcas provider status opens courses to military personnel Ringlink is now able to offer a range of courses to serving and former military personnel through the Enhanced Learning Credits Scheme (Elcas). The scheme, run by the MoD, promotes lifelong learning among members of the Armed Forces.

As an ELC-Approved Learning Provider, Ringlink accepts enhanced learning credits across a wide variety of courses.

Whether preparing for a career change in civilian life or looking to add to current skills, Ringlink can provide relevant and practical skills to learners across the UK with courses in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, construction, haulage and much more. For more info on either programme, get in touch at: https://ringlinkservices.co.uk/contact/

United Oilseeds Profits up 30%

Referring to the current growing season, Mr Warner said Break crop specialist co-op, United Oilseeds, has “It’s been an incredibly challenging time for Oilseed Rape announced an increase in EBITDA of one-third, rising to growers in the UK. Establishment issues, particularly due to £2,243,160 for year ending 30th June ‘23.

Cabbage Stem Flea Beetle, followed by the terrible flooding we have seen across much of the East Coast, has meant the The co-op’s annual turnover was down slightly, crop has got off to a tough start, with inevitable losses.” to £217,406,385, largely reflecting the decline in underlying commodity prices during the course of the UO estimates that 10-15% of the total UK planted area year. Its net worth rose by 23%, to £17,399,217. could already have been written off, leaving the area still viable at between 305,000-320,000 hectares. Assuming Managing Director, James Warner, said “Considering average yields, that could mean a crop below 1M tonnes for the challenges the market has been facing, and only the second time this century. following a period of unprecedented price volatility, we are proud to announce another set of extraordinary “Despite the challenges, there are reasons to remain upbeat results for our members co-operative. During the about future prospects for the OSR market in the UK. 2022/23 campaign we managed to maintain our Domestic demand for rapeseed, and its products, remains market-leading position in both UK Oilseed Rape crop robust, meaning we have ample existing demand to which marketing and our share of the UK’s certified seed to market our crops.” market, both of which remain above 30%.”

United Oilseeds forecasts that the UK will require close “Our co-operative has benefited from the ongoing to 1M tonnes of imported rapeseed during the ‘24/25 strategy to expand our presence in other break crops. marketing year in order to balance supply and demand.

We are now generating more revenue and margins “The UK is a long way from being self-sufficient in OSR. from non-OSR commodities than ever before. This With concerns around food security elevated since the start has helped our business to mitigate some of the of the Ukraine war, there is without doubt a place in the well documented challenges that the UK industry is market for home-produced vegetable oils. Furthermore, currently facing.” rapemeal is a wonderful protein source for our livestock Total commodity tonnages traded by United Oilseeds industry. It is a home-grown replacement for soybean were broadly unchanged year-on-year, at 415,964 meal, without the tonnes, of which 23% (nearly 100,000 tonnes) was associated made up of non-OSR commodities – including Oats, deforestation risk, Beans, Peas, Linseed and Hybrid Rye. which may well hold increasing importance Last year, the co-op announced a record profits considering redistribution payment to its trading members of the upcoming £520,000, the highest in its 56-year history. Once the implementation of results are audited and finalised, they expect to make the EUDR.” another record profit share payment in December.

supply chains

Supply Chain Sustainability For the last two years, our Supply Chain Deveopment Manager Rona has headed up a team working on the foresighting, analysis and mapping of more than 20 major food and drink supply chains.

Rona explains: “The maps are updated biannually using key industry approved references, which we’ve just done in October. One key consideration while mapping the sectors was sustainability, but what do we really mean when we talk about sustainability for the agri-food industry? At SAOS, broadly speaking, we consider it to be about making the best use of the natural resources we have in Scotland to grow/rear for food in the most natural conditions possible, while preserving the integrity of those resources for future generations. It’s about ensuring that our agri-food and drink businesses remain profitable over the long term to continue to support the economy and preserve the social fabric in our remote and rural communities, ensuring a fair living is available to all.

“Our mapping work includes assessment of the three pillars of sustainable development for each sector, namely environmental, economic and social. We see all three as equally important when it comes to facing current and future global challenges.

“Some of the factors identified as impacting on the economic sustainability of sectors include having a narrow customer base, leading to pricing pressures and a shortage of warehousing, cold storage and blast freezing capacity, limiting ability to cope with fluctuations in market demand.

“Social sustainability factors include a heavy reliance on EU labour in some sectors and the rising cost of labour generally, coupled with high staff turnover and retention.

“On the environmental pillar, we break this down further,

into three broad areas, namely protecting our natural environment and resources; energy, water and transport; and efficiency and waste.

“Our work has enabled us to highlight areas where sustainability is strong and where it can be further developed. For example, livestock farming accounts for around 5% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. Although these emissions are far lower than the 68% combined for transport, industry, and power, Scottish agriculture still has an opportunity and a crucial contribution to make.

“Regardless of the production system, there are common features where improvement makes both commercial and environmental sense. These include improved fertility, improved growth rates, reducing the number of unproductive stock and lowering morbidity and mortalities through better health and welfare.

“MyHerdStats, which launched this year, has been developed by ScotEID using statutory cattle registration and movement data to provide farmers with a consistent and accurate insight into their herd performance.

“Insights into performance and year-on-year herd variability help highlight areas of opportunity for improvement, allowing informed, data-led management decisions to help improve technical performance.

Farmers have access to a selection of herd performance indicators and trends, including cows retained %, calves registered, cows calved, values of cow and heifer efficiency and cow and calf mortalities. The intention is for MyHerdStats to develop over time to include additional data and functionality, perhaps incorporating industry targets, national and or regional averages, climate indicative calculations, and so on.

Read more maps at https://bit.ly/49Y1xyM and on MyHerdStats at: https://bit.ly/49Y1xyM

Cross Sector Event Exploring Space Data Opps

collaboration

The Members’ Pavilion at the Royal Highland Showground was the splendid venue for the C2 (Cultivating Collaboration) Network’s Earth Observation event in November.

The meeting brought together around 60 delegates from the Scottish land-based industries, space data companies and the financial services sector, creating a opportunity to explore opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. Discussions focused on raising awareness of the needs and challenges that each faces, exploring how space data can help land-based enterprise, and potential collaborations.

Helen Glass, SAOS’s Head of Supply Chain Innovation, who leads on the C2Network, commented: “Earth observation and the application of geospatial data obtained will become increasingly more important for decision making and to address challenges associated with climate change. Our co-ops and their farmer members are the experts best placed to contribute regarding the big challenges and risks associated with agriculture, and also to benefit from developed solutions targeted at improving sustainability and production.

“By bringing the three sectors together, the conversation is only starting, but there is momentum for the C2Network, working in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Optimat and Ernst & Young, to take us into 2024.”

Find out more about the C2Network at https://saos.coop/what-we-do/membership-c2network/

collaboration

FIA Events Provide Support for Farmers and Assessors

Food Integrity Assurance (FIA), SAOS’s certification body sister organisation, now certifies the schemes owned by QMS, SQC, Wildlife Estates Scotland and LEAF. Over the last two months, FIA has conducted a series of assessor calibration events around Scotland, enabling assessors in each area to share their views and challenges around assessments, which included feedback from members supplied by NFU Scotland.

Other industry stakeholders, QMS, RSABI, NFUS and the Scottish SPCA, were also given the opportunity to take part in training days highlighting the importance of a standardised style and approach to assessments and also how to handle difficult situations that they may come across, providing vital training for FIA and other staff on how best to support farmers.

Stephen Sanderson, General Manager for FIA, explained: “Farm assessments can undoubtedly be a stressful time for everyone involved. From the very beginning, our plans for FIA included helping ensure that the assessment process worked more efficiently for farmers and assessors.

“Quality assurance is vital for anyone who wants to sell their produce into the supply chain. Standards have to be met to ensure consistency in animal welfare and environment and food safety, whilst supporting the integrity of the brands they represent. All farmers should see the various schemes as an opportunity to promote the high standards they employ when producing food at the highest level.

“We do however recognise that on occasion there may be difficult conversations in respect of an assessment outcome and the frustration this can cause, so we felt it was crucial to collaborate with a wider stakeholder group and support our assessors when dealing with these challenges through a greater understanding of the assessment process.”

data

Antimicrobial Stewardship Project

With the significance of antimicrobial resistance continuing to grow, better understanding of antimicrobial use (AMU) and stewardship is vital. SAOS has been granted funding by Scottish Government to address the challenge through an 18-month pilot project. The project team, with staff from SAOS, QMS, Farmvet Systems and ScotEID, is piloting the delivery of an antibiotic monitoring solution for the Scottish ruminant industry, to addresses the challenges.

Using existing data sources, the pilot involves six vet practices and their farming clients monitoring, understanding and exploring good practice of antimicrobial use on farm.

Bruce McConachie, Head of Industry Development at QMS, said: “We understand that antibiotics have an important role to play on farm and that isn’t going to change. What we want to do is help the industry demonstrate good stewardship, and this project allows us to make those first steps in showing how this could be done. ”Using existing data from vet practice management software systems and cattle movement data from ScotEID, a calculation will be performed to generate a report automatically for use to support health planning and discussions on antimicrobial use between the vet and farmer.”

Anna Delday from SAOS added: “Various initiatives like this one are under way across the UK, such as the STAMP initiative in Northern Ireland, Welsh Lamb & Beef Producers’ AMU tool and Medicine Hub, which AHDB launched in 2022. We hope to learn from these initiatives and to develop a solution for Scotland which supports our farmers to make empowered, data-driven management decisions to drive improved efficiency on farm.”

Wishing all our readers a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2024 from all at SAOS!

Supply Chains

Working together to shape the future of farming and food.

If you’ve any suggestions for future SAOS Updates, or you no longer wish to receive it, please contact: jennifer.thompson@saos.coop

Co-operat ion

Technology

Collaborat ion

Innovat ion Dat a