Innovation to be backed by £1.1m support service

A new support service will be launched today by the Scottish Government with the aim of encouraging innovation in farming through collaborative ventures and increased cooperation between the sectors of the supply chain.

The Rural Innovation Support Service (RISS), funded by £1.1 million from Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, will help get farmers’ ideas off the ground by strengthening links between them and the rest of the food and drink supply chain.

The service, aimed at helping double the sector’s turnover to £30 billion by 2030, will be led by the Soil Association who will work alongside the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society which offers adviceandencouragement for co-operative ventures, Scotland Food & Drink, SAC Consulting and Mint Sauce Consulting.

Rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said that innovation was one of the four economic priorities of his government. 0 Fergus Ewing: Scheme’s aim is to aid collaboration

He said: “Our rural businesses are blessed with the skills, expertise and potential to drive our economy forward. All they need is the right support at the right time, delivered in the right way.

“That is why I am delighted to be able to announce the launch of a new Rural Innovation Support Service, which will nurture the talent within our farming, food and forestry business, and accelerate the uptake of new technologies, new business models, and new forms of co-operation to improve productivity, sustainability and ultimately profitability.”

Farming and land use manager with Soil Association Scotland, David Michie, said that many of the best ideas in farming came from farmers themselves and that the RISS would enable farmers to figure out how to make their ideas work for their business. l Meanwhile, south of the Border a new £60m grant scheme for farmers to bid for cash to buy new equipment was announced by the UK’S farming minister, George Eustice.

Speaking at the Dairy Tech event held in Stoneleigh Park, Eustice said that many of the items eligible for funding were highly relevant to the dairy sector, such as specialist foot trimming crushes and calving detectors.

Hesaidthatenglishfarmers could apply online to the Countryside Productivity Small Grant Scheme for funding of between £3,000 and £12,000 towards the costs of farm equipment.

Eustice stressed that the scheme had been designed with simplicity in mind, with the aim of saving farmers valuable time.