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Board

MIKE WILSON

Chairman
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Mike Wilson runs the family farm alongside his wife Carol and parents growing 80 ha of high grade seed potatoes mostly for seed growers in Scotland. The main part of the business is fattening cattle with the majority of the 1500 acres of cereals grown on the farm fed to cattle that are bought in from local markets .Grass and OSR are also grown alongside potatoes providing ideal break crops on a mixed rotation enterprise.

I created the SPO along with the steering committee to ensure we had stability in the future for seed potatoes . With the demise of ahdb we need a body to continue the good reputation of producing high quality seed potatoes that we have created.”

JIM CARGILL

Vice Chair & Secretary
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A second generation farmer, Jim Cargill is a foundational director of SPO. Based at Coldstream Farm he produces seed potatoes for export, and the domestic market, cereals and daffodil bulbs. A past board member at Grampian Growers and longstanding director, AHDB council member on the seed potato board, board member at SAOS, and chairman at Angus cereals.

"I understood the issues with AHDB this is why we have created SPO, to represent seed potato growers, & address relevant issues to help the industry develop"

Callum McIver

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Calum Mciver is a PB grower and a Director at HIGHLAND POTATOES LIMITED

GRAHAM TWATT

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Alan Twatt (Potatoes) Ltd is a family run grower/merchant business that my father started 65 years ago. I have been part of it now, for over 35 years.  All our potatoes are grown for seed with approx. 70% going abroad.  I am very much involved in the day to day running of the business, with over 145Ha grown on our own farms.  We are now growing mini tubers for multiplication for our growers and our own use.

I joined SPO, because can you afford not to? The industry needs a regulatory body to represent the seed growers and to liaise with SASA.

Rodney Harrison

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Rodney Harrison is Manager at Clarence Murray (Potato Growers & Farmers).

Jonnie Martin

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Johnnie Martin is a PB grower and one of the partners in a fourth generation family business first established by his grandfather in 1947 on the Black Isle.

Colin Massie

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A PB Seed grower in Aberdeenshire

PATRICK HUGHES

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Patrick Hughes currently leads on identifying, understanding and developing new opportunities for Scottish Agricultural Exports.  Patrick works with the Scottish potato, cereal, fruit and vegetable sectors to both maintain the current market position while also exploring further opportunities overseas.

“I joined the SPO board to ensure the support offered by the Scottish Agri Export Hub and key stakeholders withing the seed potato supply chain are aligned to assist in the continued development of the seed potato sector.”

Ian Toth

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Ian Toth currently works for the James Hutton Institute. He has an active research team whose focus is on the Epidemiology, aetiology and control of blackleg disease caused by Pectobacterium and Dickeya species. More recently, following a Scottish Government working group (which he led), he is part of a £2.3 million project on sustainable management of potato cyst nematodes (PCN).  He has over 100 refereed papers and book chapters and an H-index (Google Scholar) of 50, and in 2021 co-edited the first book dedicated to the soft rot Pectobacteriaceae (SRP) entitled ‘Plant Diseases Caused by Dickeya and Pectobacterium Species’ (ISBN – 978-3-030-61458-4) and written by the global SRP community.

Peter Shiells

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Is the Potato Manager at Mertoun Estate Farms in the Borders.

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NFUS Rural Centre, West Mains, Ingleston, Newbridge, EH28 8NZ