JULIE CLARK has joined AHDB as a knowledge exchange manager specialising in benchmarking.

Based in Ayrshire, Ms Clark will work with farmers across Scotland to help them gain a more in-depth understanding of their costs using the AHDB system, Farmbench.

Currently AHDB run several Business Improvement Groups across Scotland and Ms Clark will work with the Scottish team to support the existing groups, as well as supporting the Business Groups attached to the Monitor Farm Scotland programme, managed jointly by AHDB and Quality Meat Scotland.

Prior to joining AHDB, she worked for feed company For Farmers, as well as feed merchant RH Goldie Ltd, and most recently spent a year employed as a fundraiser for Ayrshire Hospice. She was brought up on a dairy farm and studied sales and marketing at the University of the West of Scotland.

Having spent some time working outwith agriculture recently, Julie is excited to be back working with farmers: “I’m very glad to be back in the farming world, and really pleased to be working with such a good team in Scotland.

“I’ve definitely got the dairy side bred into me, but I’m looking forward to working with farmers across all sectors, getting their figures into Farmbench, and helping them use that data to improve their businesses.”

AHDB Scotland director Paul Flanagan said: “Tools like Farmbench which help identify where strengths and weaknesses lie within farm businesses are critical to the long-term sustainability of the agriculture industry.

“I’m delighted to welcome Julie to the team to drive forward this vital work, I’m confident she will make a real difference to Scottish agriculture.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Farmbench should contact Julie directly by emailing julie.clark@ahdb.org.uk.