CATCH UP WITH THE MANAGER AUTUMN 2008  

It looks very autumnal and dreich as I sit writing this wee contribution…..and the clocks haven't yet changed! Let’s hope that there’s still some sun to come over the next few weeks to help overcome the glumness and uncertainty of the prices of energy, fertilisers and most other farming inputs! Still, we are, come what may, very fortunate compared to some others – Zimbabwe comes readily to mind.

A little closer to home the Ring has been fairly busy over the “summer” period with crop packaging and all the usual demands for fuels, labour and everything else that goes with the territory.

The show season has come and gone with HBS being represented at the Highland, Nairn, Black Isle and Grantown Shows. Thankfully the weather was pretty good at them all, although we were feeling a bit apprehensive on the Wednesday night of the Black Isle as the rain poured down- no need to worry, as Thursday dawned bright and fair! Many members partook of a cup of tea or coffee along with the usual selection of home baking and it was good to see you all. I must admit that I miss getting out and about visiting you all, but with phones continually ringing in the office it becomes ever more difficult to extract myself from them! On the occasion that I do get out I invariably return to a desk covered in yellow post-it notes and yet another late evening in the office catching up!

Ring growth has continued along positive lines with increases in membership numbers and throughput of business along many of the usual lines. Areas which are showing an impressive growth would be fuels, seeds and labour. Training also shows growth with courses being run to cover many aspects of agriculture. The most popular courses would continue to be the legislatively driven courses such as forklift, pesticides, chainsaw and first aid and a huge number of you have traipsed in to sit your Livestock Journey assessments……and there is always room for more of you, so if any of you or your employees require training or refresher training then please give the training department a call!

As always, I extend my thanks to those of you who support the Ring and it’s still worth pointing out that the more you use the Ring the more you’ll benefit from using it. Please continue to give us a call to quote you for the supply of seeds, feeds, fertilisers, lime, animal health, insurance, electricity…..the list goes on and on….!