From soil to harvest: Agrii’s commitment to Scottish agriculture

With a team of almost 50 agronomists supporting farmers nationwide, Agrii is Scotland’s leading farm advice, technology and supply business. Its complete service for Scottish farmers represents the culmination of decades of investment from Agrii and its proceeding companies.

We spoke with Agrii’s Scottish business managers to determine what this investment offers farmers and their thoughts for the future.

When Agrii was formed in 2012 following the merger of CSC Crop Protection, UAP and Masstock by its parent company, Origin, it inherited a strong presence in Scotland from the three businesses. Overnight, Agrii became the market leader with a well-spread network of depots, research and development sites and a large, experienced team.

“There’s a long history from all the different companies that have made up Agrii, and I think farmers see the Agrii agronomists as a trusted source of information because of this,” says Greig Baird, Agrii’s business manager for the Lothians and Borders. “We have the technical backing of a considerable amount of research data and an experienced team to utilise it.

“Scotland has always accounted for a large proportion of Agrii’s overall business in the UK, so we have a strong focus here. Similar companies tend to concentrate their trial work in the extensive wheat-growing areas in the East of England, but Agrii is different.

“The most important crops in Scotland, like malting barley, potatoes and vining peas, also have priority within Agrii nationally. Our advice and research must be relevant for Scottish farmers and the same for our decision-making. All the business managers in Scotland report directly to Agrii’s board, meaning the Scottish market is well represented within the company’s hierarchy.”

Agrii has five iFarms and a technology centre in Scotland. The iFarms are hosted by partner farmers; they showcase the latest agronomic innovations and provide opportunities to discuss how they can be implemented with local farmers. Technology centres have more extensive small plot trials and are used to generate the large datasets that drive Agrii’s decisions.

The local cropping and agronomic challenges drive what is tested at the iFarms. “We have open days where the local farmers come to see the research. At the end of the season, we have a reports meeting to review the results from the work they witnessed at the demos. Farmers always appreciate local data on crop protection programmes and varieties, so this work is important to them,” adds Greig.

“We always get well over 100 farmers visiting our iFarm demo near our Inverurie depot in Aberdeenshire,” says Justin Taylor, Agrii’s business manager for Northern Scotland. “We also have an iFarm in the Black Isle, which is well supported despite not being in a big arable area. A farmer can read the AHDB Recommended List, but there is nothing like seeing how varieties perform locally. iFarms are a key part of what Agrii does.”

Sprayer and liquid fertiliser contracting is a big part of Agrii’s business. At peak season, they are running over 20 sprayers covering a considerable acreage of crops. “In my area, it is particularly important; we are operating 12 sprayers,” says Colin Rennie, Agrii business manager for Central Scotland. “We have our own liquid fertiliser manufacturing plant at Kincardine Bridge, and a lot of what we produce there is also applied by Agrii as an overall service.

“Many farmers do not have the time to spread liquid fertiliser or do not want to spend the money adapting their equipment. However, I have always found that once farmers start using liquid fertilisers, they rarely return to what they did before. When compared to granular fertiliser, the speed of nutrient uptake is night and day.

“Agrii’s sprayers cover all combinable crops. There are also a lot of potatoes grown in my region, so this is also a priority. We have two large vegetable growing groups where we are heavily involved in servicing them.”

Agrii announced a collaboration with the grain marketing specialist Viterra several years ago. This has enabled them to connect agronomy and crop inputs with a farmer’s grain marketing. As the food chain looks to tackle challenges like net zero, this is increasingly important for compliance and to seize any premium opportunities for produce grown under specific farming systems like regenerative farming.

“I am excited about our partnership with Viterra; they provide our clients with many opportunities to market their grain locally and nationally. This was the missing piece of the puzzle for Agrii to offer a full service, but we certainly have a strong partner now,” explains Colin.

Changing weather, consumer demands, support payments and increased legislation create a need from farmers for advice, and the three business managers agree that Agrii is well-equipped to help farmers tackle them. The solution will increasingly be driven by a move to a more systems-based approach with integrated pest management at its core.

Future Farming Expo – October 2023

The Scottish agronomy and RHIZA teams travelled to Aberdeen to attend the very first Future Farming Expo, hosted at P&J Live. The show demonstrated a diverse range of businesses from glamping to farm machinery, and attracted a wide-ranging variety of visitors. It was a great way to make waves in the local area and generated a great deal of interest in what Agrii and RHIZA can offer local growers (see right).

AgriScot – November 2023

Agrii’s attendance at AgriScot was much appreciated by local growers, with members of the team on hand to offer advice on all areas of Agrii’s offering from agronomy to forage, precision to animal health. It was a very busy and successful show and we hope to attend again in November 2024!

Agrii has invested in services and research to help its agronomists advise and supply farmers with every facet of their system. The Master’s seed brand is a market-leading supplier of the latest genetics to farmers, and Agrii is even developing proprietary varieties in partnership with Secobra. They also launched Rhiza, the only fully integrated digital agronomy and precision farming service for arable, grassland and high-value crops.

“One of our biggest areas of growth in the last few years has been with mixed livestock and arable farmers,” says Greig. “We now have an Agrii product range of animal health and nutrition products. It complements our longstanding range of forage seeds. 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Master Leys grass seed brand.

“We need to think about where the next yield gains will come from, and over the next five years, I am incredibly excited about the increased use of technology in agriculture. The use of nutrition within agronomy programmes will become a more important element, which will help offset the reduction of crop protection.”

“The industry is changing, and farmers need more support than ever,” states Colin. “We have a big footprint of agronomists advising on farms across Scotland that can help farmers, not just with agronomy, but with all the other changes happening. We have invested in building the complete offer for farmers, so our team can provide help for a farmer with everything they need.”

A decade ago, the agronomy industry faced a staffing crisis, with many agronomists close to retirement and few young people entering the profession. To complement their investment in new technology, Agrii has also worked hard to train new agronomists for the future.

“At 47, I am the oldest in my team,” says Justin. “The average age is much younger than what is typical. We have built a great team of talented agronomists who buy into the industry’s future direction and understand how to get the best out of new technology.

“A continuous investment in research and development will be vital for the future; this is what Agrii does best. There is no other business doing the amount of research we are doing across Scotland’s arable area, and with it referenced against a research network around the United Kingdom to give it context.”