It will facilitate collaboration between researchers, advisors, farmers, and businesses in the sector
Ministers from the UK and Scottish governments have opened a multi-million pound facility designed to boost innovation and sustainability in the dairy industry.
Tom Arthur, Minister for Employment and Investment, and Kirsty McNeill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, unveiled a plaque and toured the state-of-the-art laboratories at the new Dairy Nexus building near Dumfries, which is the first Scottish project to be delivered through the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal.
SRUC is leading the project, which was awarded £4 million each from the UK and Scottish governments and £738,000 from South of Scotland Enterprise.
Built by Portakabin Ltd on SRUC’s Barony campus near Dumfries, the Dairy Nexus is ideally placed to boost innovation in the major dairy-producing regions of Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria.
It will facilitate collaboration between researchers, advisors, farmers, and businesses in the sector to identify and solve real-world problems and take opportunities to improve productivity and sustainability.
Ministers and guests were shown inside the Milk Technology Unit, which is used for dairy product development testing, sampled local produce, and were also allowed to meet Hilda, the dairy calf who recently made headlines around the world as the face of ‘Cool Cows’, a research project given a grant by the UKRI-funded Digital Dairy Chain.
UK Government Minister for Scotland Kirsty McNeill said: “This exciting project – backed by £4 million UK Government funding and part of our £65 million commitment to Scottish projects on the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal – is a great example of collaboration to find innovative solutions for boosting productivity, creating jobs, and decarbonising the dairy sector in the south of Scotland and beyond.
