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Farmlay has invested over £2million to help double productivity with the use of artificial intelligence.

The Aberdeenshire egg producer has invested in a new grading machine that has AI-based "computer vision" technology, and will be rolled out in 2025.

Managing Director Iain Chapman confirmed that the new system which cost £2.4m is being shipped over from the Sanovo Technology Group factory in the Netherlands.

“Our current egg grader is giving us 500 cases an hour and this second one will give us 400, so almost double our output,” he said.

“We were at a crossover as to whether - with demand for eggs at such a high - to simply run our existing grader longer hours.

“However, doing that wouldn’t have been a long-term solution and could have been risky with no back up machine if there was a problem.

“We have been keenly watching the research and development going on.

"The Sanovo machine we are getting has been proven to be amazingly efficient, using AI to analyse high-resolution images of the eggs.”

Farmlay, based at Cockmuir Farm, near Strichen supplies produce to retailers including Aldi, Lidle, Morrisons and Spar.

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