United Farmers - Tarff Valley
3b Ormiston Terrace, Edinburgh EH12 7SJ
Chairman: Jonathan Robinson
Tel: 0131 334 3111 Fax: 0131 334 3222 E-mail: enquiries@united-farmers.org.uk
Ringford, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright DG7 2AN
Chairman: James Dunlop Managing Director: Colin Owen
Tel: 01557 820247 Fax: 01557 820249 E-mail: info@tarffvalley.co.uk
The size and scale of business in the farm supply sector will become increasingly important as individual farmers seek least cost solutions to their current problems.
With the purchasing power available through co-operation, farmers can access competitively priced quality inputs, one of the key elements in the pursuit of farm profitability.
United Farmers is the federal purchasing agency for many of Britain’s leading agricultural supply co-operatives. Its over-riding objective is to capitalise on the scale of operation of its members allowing the federal to negotiate supply contracts which offer real competitive advantage.
The statistics illustrate its negotiating strength - 18 co-operatives operating from the Northern Isles to Lincolnshire (including one business in the Falklands) which in turn supply some 50,000 members and customers.
Since its establishment in 1971 United Farmers has developed to a position where it is now handling almost £24 million of agricultural inputs, either proprietary brands or sold as the Unifarm brand and marketed under the banner “..farmer-owned...that’s the difference.”
The Unifarm range includes fertiliser, feed, minerals and calf milk replacers but United Farmers also sources animal health, crop packaging, dairy chemical, pet food, livestock equipment and household products.
Following a major review of the business in 1997, in the last four years United Farmers has adopted a strategy for growth, establishing new relationships with manufacturers many of whom now regard the federal’s members as the preferred supply route to market. Structural and administrative costs have been stripped out and the product portfolio refined. Turnover has doubled, an outstanding achievement in a period of weaker demand and at a time when product values have been static or declining.
United Farmers’ performance can be attributed in part to the commitment of members such as Tarff Valley Ltd in the South West of Scotland. With some 740 members and a customer base of more than 1200, Tarff Valley is one of Scotland’s most successful farm supply co-operatives, regularly producing profit and issuing bonuses to members from a turnover of £12 million.
In addition to a full selection of farm inputs and a range of services including bulk fertiliser delivery and spreading, Tarff Valley has four retail outlets serving the farming and rural community.
Managing Director Colin Owen: “Combining our purchasing power with other co-operatives enables us to buy right; in fact, we source around 50% of our requirements through United Farmers, thereby providing our farmer customers with competitively priced supplies.”
United Farmers’ Chief Executive `Uel Morton: “We are an enabling organisation, committed to seeking better terms and value for our members, in turn allowing their members to gain distinct price and quality advantages. Our activities are exactly in line with the recommendations of the Input Task Force set up by the Minister of Agriculture...namely, that in view of the severe pressures and structural change in the market, farmers should explore ways in which they can co-operate to reduce costs.”