Scotland’s agricultural co-operatives are to be given the chance to create bespoke precision farming and agri-tech services for their members.
Agricultural co-op organisation SAOS is leading a Scottish Government-financed project to help co-ops research, design and trial these technologies and services to suit their members and markets.
The project is set to conclude in March next year.
SAOS chief executive James Graham said: “Last year, we encouraged agricultural co-ops to give us their own future vision and one of the roles they identified was to become conduits to new and smart technologies on behalf of their farmer members.
“This project enables the co-ops to proceed in the short term. We have had a strong response from several who are keen to engage with the project, which we believe will make a significant impact. Co-ops have a unique ability to aggregate data across members, and with others in their supply chains, to ensure most efficient production in response to customer requirements. The fact that the farmers will own the data that is collected by their co-op, for the collective benefit of members, is really important.”
Newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing, said the project was one of three to be awarded a combined funding pot of around £200,000 by the Scottish Government. The other two projects are one looking at the value of co-op membership and another aimed at helping farmers respond to the effects of climate change.
Mr Ewing said: “Farmer co-operatives are well placed to take advantage of economies of scale, share best practice and accelerate the uptake of new technologies. Co-ops can also deliver valuable productivity and resource efficiency gains as well as increase resilience to challenges such as market volatility and climate change.”
