Machinery ring chief slams rival's 'aggressive recruiting'

LEADING figures in the world of Scottish farm co-operatives were yesterday playing down a claim by Jim Farquharson, the vice-chairman of Rural Services, that a neighbouring machinery ring was "poaching members".

This is not the first time there has been friction between Ringlink, which operates from the Tay to the Moray Firth, and its neighbouring organisation, Rural Services (previously called Perthshire Machinery Ring). When Ringlink established an office in Ardler, Perthshire, ten years ago, there were objections from PMR, but the office stayed and a number of farmers changed their allegiance at that time.

The recent bust-up between the two occurred after Ringlink last month held meetings in a hotel in Perth, the centre of Rural Services' sphere of operation.

Farquharson said he had no objection if any farmer voluntarily moved to another organisation, but he described the holding of meetings in another patch as an "aggressive piece of recruiting".

He added: "This is certainly not co-operation."

And he said he was surprised that the overall body for Scottish farm machinery co-ops was not concerned about the situation.

Farquharson added he had written to SAOS, the overall body for farmer-owned co-operatives in Scotland, asking them to intervene to stop such actions.

If he did not get a satisfactory reply to his request, he stated he would be raising the issue at the SAOS annual general meeting, which is due to be held in the middle of next month.

He admitted the letter had been written without the knowledge or support of his chairman or board of directors, but said it was necessary to protect the business, of which he was one of the founder members.

Mark Ogg, the chairman of Ringlink, said the meetings were held in Perth in response to requests from Perthshire farmers. "They will decide on what is best for them," he said.

For James Graham, the chief executive of SAOS, this competition between co-ops was not a new issue.

He gave examples such as the competing interests of Scottish Pig Producers and the other big player in the Scottish pig sector, Scotlean. Another potential competition already exists between GrainCo and Aberdeen Grain.

"Competition is inevitable and it generally leads to improved services," he said.

He added that it would not be appropriate for his organisation to become involved in any dispute between two members. Apart from anything else, SAOS had no powers to instruct members to keep to geographical areas.

However, he said he was keen to help encourage discussion between the two organisations to try and bring about a peaceful solution.