The AgriScot Product Innovation Award has been won by Dairy Spares Ltd’s Trusti Tuber Starter Pack.

The award is intended to encourage a forward thinking approach to agriculture, embracement of technology and to provide a platform for new product promotion – all of which is aimed at potentially being of direct benefit to the AgriScot’s farming visitors.

For 2016, there has been tremendous support for the competition, with 25 entries shortlisted down to 10 to be scrutinised by the appointed judges:

Joyce Campbell (2015 Scottish Sheep Farm of the Year winner) and Adam Watson (2015 Scottish Beef Farm of the Year winner) form a panel of three, with Alasdair Fletcher, editor of The Scottish Farmer, AgriScot's media partner.

The shortlisted entries for the 2016 AgriScot Product Innovation Award were:

• Bruno Rimini Ltd – Silostop’s SilostopMax;

• Dairy Spares Ltd’s Trusti Tuber Starter Pack;

• DeLaval Limited’s DeLaval Body Condition Score Camera BCS;

• EM Effective Micro-Organisms Ltd’s P Focus;

• Envirosystems (UK) Ltd’s Envirobed Premium Blend;

• Harbro Limited’s Feed, Fertility & Worms;

• Healthy Hooves Ltd’s Bovi-Bath;

• Mole Valley Farmers’ SmaXtec Rumen Bolus Monitoring System;

• Ritchie (Implements) Ltd’s Beef Monitor;

• Shearwell Data Ltd’s Te Pari Automatic Drench Gun.

The 2016 winner, Dairy Spares Ltd’s Trusti Tuber Starter Pack, was de4scribed as stress free calf tube feeding. Designed by a vet in New Zealand, the Trusti Tuber has a solid mouth piece, soft flexible tube with calf size markers, the combination of which reduces calf stress and discomfort. The soft flexible tube swallows easily and trials have shown to almost half procedure feeding time.

Commenting on the win, Simon Elliot of Dairy Spares said: “We have had fantastic feedback and interest today already and so our win in the Product Innovation Award helps to reinforce the positive messages around the product.

“The product is simple and easy to use and tends to sell itself for being so farmer friendly. Reducing calf – and farmer – stress, the product has been flying off the shelves and we hope it will continue to do so.”