Councillor Kate Howie to Chair Agriculture Forum
Last updated | 29/05/2008
Councillor Kate Howie has been elected Chair of the Perth and Kinross Agriculture Forum.
Councillor Howie was voted into the Chair at a meeting of the Forum on Monday 26 May.
She said: “This is a challenging appointment and I am looking forward to it very much. Agriculture is a very important pillar of the local economy. It is important that local farmers and rural businesses continue to come up with good ideas and projects to keep the local industry competetive and moving forward. The Forum can help to develop and nurture those ideas.”
The Forum considered its priority issues between 2008-2011. The main areas the Forum is going to concentrate on are:
• PKC input to EU and national policy
• Food tourism developments building on Cittaslow and other Initiatives
• Encourage new innovative projects
• Renewable energy from agriculture
Councillor Howie added: "Renewable energy is an area we must capitalise on. Huge opportunities exist for farms in areas like the production of bio-gas from food waste, bio-diesel from waste plastic and bio-ethanol from straw. The Forum will be examining how local agriculture can grasp these opportunities and reap the benefits of them.”
