Potato producers’ conference aims to build resilience for UK sector
The SAC Association of Potato Producers’ annual conference will look at building resilience
More than 150 of the UK’s leading potato producers and industry representatives will be gathering in Dundee next month with the aim of boosting growers’ confidence amidst the current sector challenges.
Organised by SRUC, the 25th annual conference of the SAC Association of Potato Producers (SACAPP) will take place on Wednesday, 24 January 2024.
The one-day event will review the way in which UK producers could learn from both the Irish and Australian industry, highlight the ambitions of the National Potato Innovation Centre and provide opportunities for discussion, workshops, and networking.
The 2024 event theme will be ‘building resilience into potato businesses’. However, the conference will also be looking at some of the more intractable challenges facing the industry, such as potato cyst nematode (PCN).
The event will be chaired by SAC Consulting’s Senior Potato Consultant Dr Kyran Maloney, with key speakers including Dr James Price and Professor Ian Toth from the James Hutton Institute, Nuffield Scholar Tom Murray from O’Shea Farms, and Dr Nigel Crump, General Manager of AuSPICA in Australia.
Professor Gerry Saddler, Chief Plant Health Officer for Scotland and former Head of SASA, will deliver his vision for the Scottish potato industry as a closing presentation.
He said: “Building on the professionalism and innovation of previous generations, the potato industry in Scotland has established a world-wide reputation for quality. Maintaining and growing this reputation is a continuing challenge, not least as pressures from pests and diseases wax and wane.
“A changing climate and disruption to long-established trading relationships adds further uncertainty.
"It is only by learning the lessons from the past, working together and nurturing innovation will we be able to meet the challenges of the future.”
SAC Consulting’s Potato team will also be providing wider potato tips.
Stuart Wale, Principal Consultant at SAC Consulting, said since he had initiated the annual conference 25 years ago, it has grown to become the only event of its kind left in Scotland and represents a great networking event for the industry.
The conference will be held on 24 January from 9.30am to 4pm at The Apex City Quay Hotel in Dundee. The event is free for SACAPP members, but tickets are available to purchase for non-SACAPP growers and trade.
For more information and to book your tickets, please email, sacapp@sac.co.uk
Posted by SRUC on 13/12/2023
