AgriScot – which began as DairyScot – will be celebrating its 25th anniversary when this year's event takes place on November 20.

To mark the occasion, the event's first two chairmen, Alex Brown and Robin Young, have agreed to act as joint independent assessors for the Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year award 2019.

The pair, who will be aided in their assessment duties by current AgriScot board member, Gilmour Lawrie, are now calling for nominations and entries to the award.

Mr Brown, OBE, who was chairman of DairyScot and then AgriScot from 1993 to 2001, commented: “I have not personally been involved with AgriScot for a number of years now. But it has been great to see how far the event has come over the years, it is now a true cross sector farm business event attracting agricultural professionals from all over Scotland, Britain and beyond.

“It has been particularly interesting to see how the farm of the year awards have grown, both in number and prestige over the years.”

Mr Young, chairman of AgriScot from 2001 to 2009 added: “Both Alex and I are delighted and honoured to have been invited to assess this prestigious award. The Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year award is a coveted title in dairy farming circles. The previous recipients list is a true who’s who of top tier dairy farms that would stand up against competition from anywhere in the world.

“The move, in 2018, to open the award up for public nomination and entry – inline with the other AgriScot farm of the year awards – has been a great success.”

“Alex and I would encourage anyone reading this to put forward a name or two for the 2019 award – everyone in the sector, be they a vet, a feed rep or a farmer, knows a farm which could be a worthy ambassador for our industry. Please put the names forward!”

Mr Lawrie, himself an award-winning dairy farmer, commented: “It is great to be able to bring the long-standing knowledge and expertise of Alex and Robin back on board in this anniversary year. But, rest assured, none of us will be looking backwards! The Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year award, like everything at AgriScot, is all about showcasing innovation, forward thinking and future ambassadors!

“The 2019 recipient might be a farm with fantastic performance, or a farm with a brilliant diversification, or perhaps a farm where great efforts have been made to tell the dairy story to the wider public. There are many reasons why a farm might deserve to take the title, please get in touch and tell us about them.”

The Scottish Dairy Farm of the Year and all AgriScot farm of the year awards, are open for nomination and entry now – email info@agriscot.com (mailto:info@agriscot.com) for further details.