SAC Consultant Collects Award

SAC Principal Crops Consultant, Dr Keith Dawson, has won the Scottish Farmer award for Arable Supplier of the Year, at the 2008 Royal Highland Show.

Keith commented, "SAC Agronomy Select launched a new Agronomy Service just three years ago which emphasised the value of SAC's independent technical and economically rigorous arable advice, at a time when grain prices were at an all time low. A number of Agronomy Groups were set up in Scotland and the service now has well over 100 Scottish farmer clients farming over 100,000 acres. The service covers the widest range of arable advice from choice of crop and varietal management, through crop protection, nutrition and cultivation issues to environmental, economic and marketing advice.

I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of our SAC Agronomy Select team for their independent work helping the Scottish arable sector in tough times. Whilst the SAC Agronomy Select service was set up at a time of low grain prices, grain prices and input costs have both risen dramatically with farm margins squeezed. This reinforces the need for unbiased advice based on sound Scottish R&D and commercial experience. Arable farming is at a time of great challenge with rising food and energy prices, global food shortages and fuel and food security issues, it will take all the efforts of researchers, advisers and farmers to rise to these challenges. I know that SAC is uniquely placed to help farmers to meet these challenges and this award is recognition of our Agronomy team's efforts to meet the needs of a rapidly changing industry."