AHDB have welcomed a new recruit, Iain Pirie, as Knowledge Exchange Manager for Scotland.

Iain, who is based in Newton Mearns, has 30 years’ experience working in the agricultural sector. He studied agricultural engineering at Newcastle University before joining the family business which manufactured refrigeration units for potatoes and other vegetables. More recently he spent over eight years working as Farming Manager with RBS, supporting rural businesses with account analysis and business planning.

In his new role at AHDB Dairy Iain will be working on a number of key projects including AHDB’s new Optimal Dairy Systems initiative which encourages farmers to increase their business competitiveness by reviewing and optimising their calving systems. Iain will also be involved in delivery of AHDB’s Calf to Calving programme and dairy benchmarking groups.

Iain says: “My aim is to develop an in depth understanding of the dairy industry in Scotland as well as everything that the AHDB has to offer them, and bring them together so we can support the dairy sector in Scotland as best as we can.

“Thanks to my experience at RBS I have a particular interest business planning and bench marking and I think if we can help farmers better understand their cost of production, and use that information to plan appropriately we will see the industry flourish.”

Iain is keen to build relationships across the dairy sector and is already visiting dairy farmers and meeting with farming organisations to develop those links and his understanding of the current challenges the industry is facing. If any farmers would like to contact Iain directly they can do so by emailing iain.pirie@ahdb.org.uk.