East of Scotland Farmers Ltd chairman George McLaren has told members of the Coupar Angus-based cooperative that the year ended May 31 2012 was a historic one for two very different reasons.
“Firstly, we experienced one of the worst years of weather on record, and we all had to cope with the impact that it had on our businesses.
“More positively, the construction of our new grain drying and storage facility heralded growth, efficiency and service improvements,” he said.
The developments were centred on a new dryer, 15,000-tonne store and associated equipment all of which was commissioned in time for the 2013 harvest.
The project represented a £3.4 million investment for the cooperative, with funding boosted by £1m from the Food Processing Marketing and Co-operative Grant Fund and £15,000 from Perth and Kinross Council.
EOSF committed £500,000 from reserves, with the balance borrowed from Royal Bank of Scotland.
“The new dryer performed well and we put 21,000 tonnes through it during the season, all of it malting barley being taken down to 12% at low temperature,” said general manager Robin Barron.
“Mind you, it was one of the easiest harvests we have had. The physical quality of the grain was all good, with some excellent specific weights.
“There were some high nitrogens amongst the early spring barleys but, with the buyers increasing the tolerances, it didn’t pose too many problems.”
Mr Barron who has just completed his 10th harvest at the helm of EOSF reported that despite “pretty average” yields the 160 grain-growing members produced a record 65,000 tonnes of crop, with all but 5,000 tonnes handled through the Coupar Angus site.
New members helped boost the tonnage, and although yields were average they were 20% higher than in 2012.
“We had far better weather this summer and it was only the fact that it was too dry at one stage that held back yields.
“The fact that the good weather has carried on into the autumn has been a great help because it has allowed sowings to return to a normal pattern,” Mr Barron said.
Asked if there were plans for further expansion, he confirmed that there was a “phase two” with planning permission secured which would allow a doubling up of the 2013 developments.
This was, however, unlikely to take place in the short term.
“It is probably five-to-10 years away and will depend on paying off loans, and new members joining. We are still recruiting,” Mr Barron added.
The business performance in the year ending May 31 2013 reflected the difficult 2012 harvest, said Mr McLaren.
Turnover was down from £19.562m the previous year to £17.796m.
Pre-tax profits were also hit, with a reduction from £404,912 to £259,827.
Retained profits were down from £279,379 to £230,304.
Capital and reserves increased to £3.179m from £2.942m.