AHDB Board Member and Cereals & Oilseeds Sector Council Chair Tom Clarke writes for the Scottish Farmer.

Hands up. Five years ago I knew very little about Scottish agriculture. I’ve since acquired many Scottish farming friends - one from near “Sunny Dunny” still teases me for assuming he only grew oats, on a thin granite soil…

I’ve learned Scotland has plenty to boast about where food and farming are concerned. From prime Scotch beef, through world-beating seafood and soft fruit, to the finest tatties – Scotland punches well above its weight.

But for me, cereal growers are the unsung heroes of Scottish agriculture. From the fertile nook of the Black Isle to the craggy tip of The Machars, from the Pentland foothills to the Pentland Firth; Scottish grains underpin a thriving food chain. Whether malting barley for the UK’s biggest export earner, biscuit wheat, porridge oats, or feed for winter ration - Scottish cereal farmers deliver. This is often done in conditions and tight weather windows that make a soft, spoiled Southerner like myself wince.

The AHDB, whose Cereal & Oilseed Sector Council I now chair, raises a grower levy on every ton of grain sold across the UK (46p/t), and seeks to use that investment to help farmers do better. It is though (perhaps like Scottish cereal farmers) often overlooked and somewhat taken for granted. We aim to change that and do so by delivering more value to boost levy-payer’s businesses.

Much of the independent research, data, and tools we currently provide - for example, the Recommended List, fungicide trials, nutrient management guide, Soil Health Scorecard, and our grain market information and analysis - is taken and tweaked by others for a Scottish audience – but make no mistake your levies underpin it all. Yet we want to do more.

We want to do more because we believe farmers need us to do more. We are all farming in a changing climate, amid changing regulations, in a changing world. This requires new solutions, backed up by independent evidence about what works, delivered in a practical and relevant way farmers can make sense of. We want to invest an extra £1m per year in boosting research, and have you the levy-payer determine exactly which problems it helps to solve.

But our existing services also need to get better. The Recommended List would benefit from more trial sites, giving growers all over Scotland better insight into how varieties actually perform in your regions, soil types, farming systems, or desired input levels.

We don’t want to reinvent the wheel either – we already collaborate where possible. We were glad to sponsor the Arable Scotland event near Dundee again this year alongside SRUC and the James Hutton Institute. Our Strategic Farm, Balbirnie Home Farm in Fife run by David Aglen, has a collaborative approach, putting science behind reduced inputs and regenerative techniques. This deserves a wider audience. We work jointly with QMS running a network of nine Monitor farms, but only one of these is a cereal farm, near North Berwick – and you’d be forgiven for feeling a little under-represented. I’d like to see more.

We last asked for a levy increase in 2011. In the 12 years since then, our budget has been flat, but our costs have not. Our spending power has reduced by 40% at a time when the Sector Council, made up of levy payers, wants to see AHDB doing more to boost cereal farm returns in Scotland. We can cut back no longer. That is why we are asking you to increase your investment by 12p/t, with merchants and processors paying the same percentage increase.

To help ensure that Scotland’s voice is heard in how that money is spent, you need strong representation on the Sector Council. That’s why I was pleased when Dave Bell from Upper Magus Farm, St. Andrews accepted the role of Vice-Chairman. I am also delighted to invite Allan Bowie, farmer and former president of NFUS to join us. I would ask all Scottish cereal and oilseed levy payers to vote to ratify those appointments in the coming weeks - look out for the email coming your way.

I know it’s not a great time to be asking you to up your investment, but I honestly believe the value we can provide in return is needed now, more than ever. The AHDB exists to correct the wrongs of a fragmented industry; every farmer benefits, so every farmer contributes. For too long those benefits have been eroded, and we can’t afford that. Let’s pull together and fund our own future.

To learn more about the AHDB plans for the future go to ahdb.org.uk – and to challenge our case, ask questions, or make suggestions please email info@ahdb.org.uk AHDB is also hosting a live Q&A event online on November 9th see the website for more details.