The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Milne offers insight into field of farm machinery
AGRICAR IS one of the major machinery companies operating in Courier Country.
John Milne has been at the helm since 1986, when he and Jim Johnston organised a management buyout.
David Andrews asked him about the company, and his views on agriculture.
Q— When did you first take an interest in farm machinery?
A— My father farmed at Greenden at Farnell on Southesk Estate. As a boy, Ed Byars of Reekie’s of Arbroath used to come in a Standard van and service my father’s tractors.
I was fascinated by his ability to take a tractor apart and then put it together again. That sparked my interest.
Q— After school what did you do?
A— I wanted to farm but my dad told me there was no future on a small farm so I went and served an apprenticeship with Peter Small of Brechin.
When this company went into receivership I went to Andy Ross of Stonehaven, servicing Mercedes trucks.
Then I was approached by Stewart Brown of Whitton & Brown. He had been my journeyman when I was with Peter Small.
I t hen worked f or Whitton & Brown before joining another John Deere dealer at Uplawmoor, Renfrewshire.
Q— Would your dad have believed you would be running a multimillion-pound business today?
A— No. I wish he could have been here to see the current business.
He died in 1985. At that time, I was branch manager with Elbar Agricar.
A year l at er, Jim Johnston and I did a management buyout.
Q— Since then you have built up a network of businesses across central Scotland, haven’t you? A— Yes. The head office is in Forfar and we have depots in Pe r t h , Laurencekirk, Stirling and Dundonald, and a parts outlet in Blairgowrie.
Q— You also hold a nu m b e r of major machinery franchises.
A— Yes: we have New H o l l a n d, Grimme, Manitou, Amazone, Krone, Polaris and a good few others, which give us a full range of machinery to sell.
Most of the franchises are ones we have held for a long time, and which are noted for being first class in terms of innovation and efficiency.
Q
—
What
are
the driving forces in machinery sales nowadays?
A— There are two opposing ones. The manufacturers are pushing for market share, while we dealers need to show a profit.
It is difficult to get the manufacturers to understand that we must have a bottom line. It is one thing selling new equipment, but they have to remember that we have to deal with the second-hand machinery that comes back in when we make a new sale. Q— Have you any observations on the farming that is being carried out? A— I think the land is very well managed nowadays.
Sadly we have lost a lot of small farms, but the big units are all well managed and supportive to the community.
Q— You have a depot in Ayrshire; have you found any truth in the old saying of ‘up horn, down corn’, with one sector doing better economically than the other?
A— Through the years that has always been a factor. When the east coast struggles, the west coast does better and vice-versa.
But this year there is no upside. It is the worst I can remember.
Q— Why do you think people are not buying machinery?
A— There is a lot of uncertainty out there. The feedback we are getting is that nothing is giving the returns that farmers have been expecting. Prices are down, the referendum did not help, and the change in the CAP is adding to the uncertainty — as well as prices of fuel, fertilisers, chemicals and machinery.
Q— Is that one reason why you diversified into t he RDW Premium Bodyshops and the Ness Plant business?
A— That was one reason. The quiet season in farm repairs used to be through winter months and we went into car body shops work as, in theory, that is when people have accidents.
Q— Did work?
Athat
theory
— No. Agriculture changed and now farm businesses are busy all the year round.
Also, car repair is very, specialised work
Q— And what about the Ness Plant business?
A— The construction industry is still struggling to recover from the recession. There are signs of recovery, but it still has some way to go.
Q— You are now also promoting the RTK network. What is that?
A— It uses global positioning satellites for precision farming.
Derek Johnston, a fellow director, is the driving force behind our RTK Network.
It now covers large parts of Angus and Perthshire and Kincardineshire.
Q— What interest is there in this technology?
A— It is increasing dramatically year on year. Most of the big farming b usi nesses are now working with it.
It is expensive but there are big savings to be made with more efficient use of seed, fertiliser and fuel.
Q— You mentioned the next generation coming into the business.
A— My son Michael is now in the company, as are Jim’s son and daughter Derek Johnston and Wendy Smith.
Q— Looking back to 1971, you must have seen big changes in farm machinery.
A— Very much so. The average tractor in those days had 65 to 80 horsepower, and we are now at two and three times that. Q— The increase in scale is not just with tractors as you recently brought a large demonstrator combine into this part of the world, didn’t you.
A— Yes. It was one of the biggest combines on the market, with a 41ft header bar and an engine with more than 650 horsepower. It was capable of combining 80 to 90 tonnes per hour.
It was very impressive and certainly attracted the attention of the major cereal growers in north-east Scotland.
Q— How many did you sell?
A— None so far, but we have had inquiries which we continue to pursue. Q— You are moving your headquarters out to Padanaram. Why is this?
A— Machinery is getting bigger and bigger.
We employ more people and we are not flavour of t he month with our neighbours because we t end to create r oad congestion at times. Q— When do you move? A — It is at the advanced planning tendering stage, but I hope sooner rather than later.
Q— You come from an era when sales staff went up farm roads; has that changed?
A— No. Our sales people still go up farm roads as the personal touch is still important.
Very few sales come from emails. However, marketing our products via our website and other advertising is rewarding.
Q— How many people do you employ?
A— Around about 160.