Collaborative champions
Mark Clark, managing director of Grampian Growers, has been appointed as the new chairman of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS), the group which champions farming co-ops and food industry collaboration.
Succeeding Kinross farmer George Lawrie, who stepped down after three years in the post, Clark has helped his company explore many new export markets for their range of seed potatoes and daffodil bulbs.
He said that the challenges facing the agricultural sector continued to grow – but expressed his belief that the work of SAOS in encouraging producers to work together would help the industry prosper: “I firmly believe that greater co-operation within the industry is one of the few answers to many of the problems we face and SAOS is well-placed to facilitate the anticipated growth of the co-op sector.”
John Hutcheson, a director of Tay Forth Machinery Ring and of Grainco Scotland, was appointed vicepresident.
“Rural businesses need to communicate and collaborate more with each other,” said Hutcheson.
“I think there is further potential for Rings to work with each other in order to lower input costs and extend the range of services available.
“I’d also like to see more producer-controlled marketing groups for primary produce, with the aim of creating greater price leverage in the marketplace and quality assurance branding that targets specific customer requirements.”