THE 2024 Ed Rainy Brown Memorial Award has been presented to Andrew Moir in recognition of his many years of co-operation and collaboration in farming, food, and rural Scotland.

Andrew was presented with the award at the SAOS Conference Dinner at Dunblane Hydro, by Katy Rainy Brown.

Andrew has played a key role in Scottish agriculture and has been a great source of encouragement and good sense for youngsters and new entrants to the industry. He has embodied co-operation in Scottish agricultural with passion and enthusiasm.

Announcing Andrew as the award winner, SAOS chairman John Hutcheson related how Andrew has served the Scottish farming industry in a host of different ways over many years, including as chair of SAOS members, Ringlink Scotland Ltd and Scottish Quality Crops, and vice-chair of the Scottish Machinery Rings Association. He has also held prominent roles with NFU Scotland.

Andrew runs his own contract farming business at Mains of Thorton, Laurencekirk. Before farming in his own right, Andrew was a farm manager with the Co-operative Farms, initially on a 650 acres dairy/arable farm but latterly looking after 4500 acres across nine businesses from Perthshire to Aberdeenshire, mainly in contract farming arrangements. He is married to Anne with three grown up boys and six grandchildren.

Commenting on Andrew’s award, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said: “It is an absolute pleasure to see one of the industry’s true stalwarts receive this award from SAOS and NFU Scotland given the huge shift that Andrew has put in on behalf of both organisations and the wider farming sector.

“At NFU Scotland, Andrew has, over more than 30 years, represented members locally, regionally, and nationally. He initially represented his region on the head office committee for milk before many years’ service representing the North East on combinable crops, a committee he went on to chair for three years. Andrew was also the NFU Scotland nominee to chair the Voluntary Initiative in Scotland from 2015 to 2020, driving forward the responsible use of plant protection products.

“He had a fundamental role, under his chair, in developing AgriScot into the leading winter event in Scotland. More recently, Andrew’s knowledge and skills have proven invaluable as we seek to ensure post-Brexit agricultural policy in Scotland reflects the needs of the cropping sector while, under his chair, the nation’s quality assurance scheme for crops, SQC, places our growers at the premium end of UK and European markets.”