Scotland’s experts on farmer co-ops and food industry collaboration, we work with food and farming businesses to make them more profitable, competitive, and sustainable - #workingtogether to shape the future, today.
All our work helps facilitate farmers and food and drink businesses to work together effectively. Over the years we've expanded and developed subsidiary businesses - getting the right people together and making innovative advancements - to help benefit food, farming and rural Scotland.
Developing staff capability is one of the most effective ways to improve a co-op’s performance. Check out our events and training programme - most of which are open to non co-op members too.
As a development organisation, owned by our members, we provide a range of specialist services not available elsewhere, to assist them in developing their people and their businesses. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
See below for all the latest news, views and updates from us here at SAOS. Find all our latest videos on YouTube at: SAOS - working together in food and farming
Jacob van den Borne is an arable farmer and entrepreneur with a strong focus on precision agriculture. He is internationally recognised as a pioneer and leading figure in agricultural innovation. Through his own farm and innovation environments, he works towards future-proof agriculture by connecting data, technology and farming knowledge.
He leads Van den Borne Aardappelen, a family-run business in the south of the Netherlands, built up over three generations since 1952. The farm has developed into a reference farm for precision agriculture, where decisions are based on soil, crop and field data. Jacob is also the initiator of several initiatives, including VDBorne Campus, VDBorne Field Trials, Agri Drone Port and Ground Control.
For Jacob, precision agriculture is not a goal in itself, but a means to create perspective for the agricultural sector. He wants to show what is possible: economically strong agriculture that preserves room for craftsmanship and the next generation of farmers.
As a keynote speaker, Jacob takes his audience into the daily reality of a modern arable farm. He speaks with great passion about the choices farmers make, the lessons learned along the way and the role of innovation. His presentations are grounded, substantive and practice-driven, offering farmers, businesses and policymakers both a familiar perspective and a clear sense of direction, nationally and internationally.