Farmers go hi-tech to stay competitive
Today’s generation of vending machines are being utilised by farmers to offer their produce to consumers, says Peter Eccles
Scotland’s farmers are byin-large, extremely good at what they do. They have to be. Operating in a marketplace where they cannot predict the price they will receive for their produce, nor what they will pay for their inputs, they must be as efficient as possible to survive.
However, as a society we demand more than just efficiency from our farmers. We demand that they care for and respect their livestock, and they do. We demand that they maintain and enhance our environment, and they do.
Yet, also as a society, we are driven towards the convenience of supermarket shelves and therefore unwittingly compounding the financial volatility for farmers.
Farmers have not been slow to meet the se challenges. asignificant proportion of farm businesses have diversified and established additional revenue streams from tourism, renewable energy or property rentals alongside their traditional livestock and cropping.
Those who have chosen to add value to their primary produce, meat, vegetables, cereals, fruit, have also enjoyed degrees of success. However, these routes to extra value – enabling the farmer to sell direct to the consumer by cuttingoutthewholesalers,supermarketsetc–comewiththeirowntimeand cost penalties. With all the demands placed on farmers, not many have time to re-train as butchers or bakers, far less to stand behind a counter at a farm shop or farmers market stall.
Online retailing of farm produce has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity recently, particularly during the pandemic. However, by its nature, online lends itself more to larger orders of for example a full veg box or meat pack or a case of pies. For those who cannot visit a farm shop or local butchers or greengrocers during the working day, the supermarket has long been the convenient choice, particularly for smaller purchases such as the ingredients for a single meal.
Recently, a new method of retailing direct from the farm to the consumer has emerged. The on-farm vending machine.
Modern vending machines are a far cry from the type once familiar in the corner of a swimming pool foyer or hotel lobby. Today’s generation of vending machines are being utilised by farmers to offer their home produced, locally sourced, fresh, chilled and even frozen produce to consumers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The trend started with single line type machines, set up by the roadside to vend for example eggs or potatoes to passing motorists. I am proud that our new initiative here at saughland farm in midlothian is part of the new generation of multiline installations.
We have christened our new vending station, ‘lothianlarder’ and it is allowing us to sell our own Native & Wild branded meat, home baking and other delicious local food, sourced from our neighbours and trusted local farmers,direct to travellers stopping in from the busy adjacent a68 or a7 roads. the Larder, kitted out with user friendly chilled and ambient vending lockers of varying size, is a fantastic innovation for our business. we farm ensuring the highest possible welfare standards for our livestock and farm with environment in mind, we strive to produce the finest quality scotch beef and lamb and want to give people the chance to enjoy it, and produce from other like minded farmers and artisan producers, regularly with convenience.
At the larder we aim to help customers better understand our work on the farm, the processes we have developed to farm sustainably and how we add biodiversity back into the landscape. We feel this is important, and thereforeeven when we are not personally in the larder, visitors can watch regularly updated images of life on the farm via
a dedicated TV monitor. We also have some creative graphics depicting the other work we are involved in, readily adopting the latest technology and science helping ensure we continue to be at the forefront of farming.
Peter Eccles is manager of Saughland Farm near Pathhead in Midlothian. Peter was crowned Farmer of the Year and Farm Manager of the Year in the highly coveted Farmer’s Weekly Awards.