What Scotgrain Agriculture Ltd does

Scotgrain Agriculture Limited is a privately held agricultural merchant headquartered in Arbroath, Scotland, operating as a subsidiary of Bairds Malt Limited within the GrainCorp Group of Companies (ultimately owned by GrainCorp Limited, Australia) and the broader Soufflet Malt / United Malt Group network. The company supplies arable inputs (seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals), provides FACTS-registered agronomy services, and procures and markets grains, oilseeds, and pulses to approximately 800 Scottish growers, moving roughly 400,000-500,000 tonnes of grain annually, of which approximately 55% is malting barley destined for Scotland's distilling and brewing industry. Operations are concentrated along the eastern seaboard of Scotland, supported by the Arbroath commercial office, grain storage and seed-dressing facilities at multiple Scottish locations, and a network of Farm Traders conducting direct field sales.

The core product portfolio spans Seed Supply (barley, wheat, oilseed rape, oats, grass seed, rye), Seed Dressing at three Scottish sites, Fertiliser Supply with multi-market access, full Agronomy Services, Grain Marketing/Contracting (including long-term contracts and buyback agreements), Grain Storage, Drying and Cleaning, and a Price Risk Management service built on futures-based trading. Technology assets are modest: a rule-based Scotgrain Seed Calculator tool for sizing seed requirements, a structured Early Evaluation Programme trialling 25-30 barley varieties annually across multiple Scottish farms with micro-malting tests conducted at Bairds Malt's central laboratory, and integration with sister-group grain-trading software shared with Canada Malting. No proprietary AI, machine-learning, or advanced digital platform is disclosed.

Scotgrain's business model combines transaction-fee grain merchandising, input pass-through revenue on seeds and fertilisers, professional-services fees for agronomy, and managed-services revenue from grain storage and drying. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales executed by Farm Traders who provide on-farm advice and handle contracting; pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Revenue is generated across two customer segments - Scottish arable growers (supply side) and UK maltsters, distillers, brewers, feed compounders, and wheat millers (offtake side) - with named long-term supply relationships including Whyte & Mackay, William Grant & Sons, and Carrs Milling. Revenue, margins, and headcount are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Scotgrain Agriculture Ltd

Legal name

Scotgrain Agriculture Limited

Website

https://scotgrain.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Merchant Services

NAICS

Grain and Field Bean Merchant Wholesalers (42451), Other Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers (424590), Farm Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (424910)

SIC

Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Grain & Oilseed Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Starches, Flours & Milling Products Trading/Wholesale (AFAIAKAH), Grain Handling & Farmgate Services (Retailer/Co-op Adjacent) (AFABAJAN), Seed & Trait Distribution (Dealer Networks) (AFABAJAD)

Keywords

• Agricultural merchanting
• Grain trading
• Seed supply
• Crop agronomy
• Fertiliser distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Arbroath

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Grain Trading & Contracting: Procurement and marketing of grains, oilseeds and pulses. Full range of grain contracting opportunities including long-term contracts and buyback agreements. The company moved approximately 400,000 tonnes of grain in 2019.
2. Seed Supply: Supply of seeds including barley, wheat, oilseed rape, oats, grass seed, rye and other combinable crops. Also includes seed dressing services at three locations throughout Scotland.
3. Fertiliser Sales: Supply of fertilisers with access to the whole market, offering custom solutions to suit each grower and each field.
4. Agronomy Services: Full agronomy service with FACTS registered Farm Traders providing consultation and crop management advice.
5. Grain Storage & Drying: Grain storage, drying and cleaning services provided through network of storage facilities throughout Scotland.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Scotgrain is a leading agricultural merchant covering supply of arable inputs (seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals), agronomy services, and the procurement and marketing of grains, oilseeds, and pulses. The company serves commercial arable growers across eastern Scotland and supplies downstream maltsters, distillers, feed compounders, and wheat millers via its parent group linkages.

Product overview

Scotgrain Agriculture Ltd operates as an agricultural merchant offering a unified portfolio of arable services. The core offering encompasses the entire crop cycle: seed supply (including barley, wheat, oilseed rape, oats, grass, and rye), seed dressing, fertiliser supply, agronomy services, and grain marketing/trading. Supporting services include grain storage facilities, price risk management tools using futures trading, and a barley variety trial plots programme conducted in partnership with parent company Bairds Malt. The company also provides a seed calculator tool for growers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seed Supply Supply of certified cereal, oilseed, pulse, and grass seed varieties to commercial arable growers in eastern Scotland, providing access to recommended and proven varieties.
• Seed Dressing In-house seed dressing service applying seed treatments to cereal seed prior to supply, helping protect establishment against key pests and diseases for arable growers.
• Fertiliser Supply Supply of blended and straight fertilisers to commercial arable growers across eastern Scotland, supporting crop nutrition requirements through the season.
• Agronomy Services Crop agronomy advisory service delivered by qualified agronomists to commercial arable growers, covering crop planning, input recommendations, and in-season agronomic decisions.
• Grain Marketing Procurement, marketing, and onward sale of grains, oilseeds, and pulses from Scottish growers to maltsters, distillers, feed compounders and wheat millers.
• Grain Storage Storage of grower grain at Scotgrain facilities across eastern Scotland, providing flexibility on timing of sale and supporting quality preservation prior to marketing.
• Grain Price Risk Management Forward pricing and risk management service for growers selling grain to Scotgrain, helping them manage price volatility via pools, contracts, and market-linked pricing structures.
• Seed Trial Plots Programme Annual nationwide seed trial plots programme evaluating cereal varieties under real conditions to inform seed recommendations and support growers' variety selection decisions.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Canada MaltingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 November 2019Sister company within United Malt family visited by Scotgrain's General Manager Owen Southwood in Calgary, Alberta. The visit allowed sharing of experiences between Scottish and Canadian growers and included review of new software packages for grain trading partners.
• Bairds Malt LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company and merchanting partner. Scotgrain plays critical role in supplying malting barley to Bairds Malt's malting sites. Joint Early Evaluation Programme for barley varieties with micro malting testing capability.
• Soufflet MaltcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUltimate parent company and world's leading maltster with operations in 20 countries. Provides international supply chain connection for Scottish barley to global brewing and distilling customers.
• Whyte and MackaymajorOthersLong-term supply arrangement for malting barley as one of Scotland's leading distilleries.
• William Grant & SonsmajorOthersLong-term supply arrangement for malting barley as a major Scottish distiller.
• Carrs MillingmajorOthersLong-term grain supply arrangement with this major grain processor.
• Balrownie Farms LtdsupportingOthersStorage partner for malting barley at Menmuire, Brechin, DD9 7RG.
• Whitehills Storage Company LtdsupportingOthersStorage partner for malting barley, oilseed rape, oats, feed barley and feed wheat at Whitehill, New Deer, AB53 6UH.
• Hamish MorisonsupportingOthersStorage partner for feed barley, wheat and oilseed rape at West Morriston, Earlston.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Frontier Agriculture: One of the UK's largest agricultural merchants, supplying crop inputs, grain marketing and agronomy to arable farmers. Directly comparable business model across inputs, grain trading, and farmer-facing field service teams.
• Openfield: UK grain marketing and arable inputs cooperative focused on combinable crop origination. Comparable in offering farmers grain marketing, seed, fertiliser and agronomy services across a regional grower base.
• Bartholomews: UK agricultural merchant providing grain trading, agronomy, seed, fertiliser and crop protection services. Similar integrated merchant model serving arable growers with regional field sales coverage.
• United Oilseeds: UK farmer-owned oilseed marketing and inputs cooperative. Overlaps with Scotgrain in oilseed rape trading and arable inputs, with comparable farmer-of-customer relationship model.

Emerging players

• Agrii: UK agronomy services and crop inputs provider with grower advisory focus. Similar FACTS-style agronomic advisory position but lighter direct grain trading exposure than Scotgrain.

Regional players

• Fengrain: East Anglia-focused grain storage and marketing cooperative handling cereals and oilseeds. Directly comparable grain origination and storage model, but operating in a different UK cereal-producing region.
• Camgrain: Central England grain storage cooperative serving combinable crop growers with intake, drying and marketing services. Similar regional grain merchandising model with a different geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Cargill UK: Global commodity trader with UK agricultural supply operations including grain origination and crop inputs. Comparable end-market activity but broader portfolio and far greater scale.
• ADM Agriculture: UK arm of global agribusiness giant ADM, trading grains and oilseeds and distributing crop inputs. Overlaps significantly with Scotgrain in grain origination and farm supply but operates at much larger, global scale.
• Glencore Agriculture UK (now Viterra): Major global grain originator and trader with UK presence handling wheat, barley and oilseeds. Comparable grain trading activity with much broader geographic and commodity diversification.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/scotgrain
• Facebookfacebook.com/scotgrain
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/scotgrain-agriculture-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Scotgrain Agriculture Ltd