Man fortified by past fit to drive farming’s future

After spending his professional life as a leading agricultural banker, Henry Graham has been involved in a wide range of organisations

Q You have just been appointed Scottish chairman of Lantra. What do you see as its biggest challenge? There are 150,000 land-based jobs in Scotland and within the next decade, we will need to introduce somewhere between 25, 000 to 30,000 newcomers to those rural industries – that is a massive challenge for Lantra.

Q How do youngsters who want to work in a rural occupation get started? We need to ensure careers advisors of the vast range of job opportunities there are. We can also work with the Royal Highland Educational Trust who are taking thousands of youngsters on to farms to sow the seed that there is a need for more young people to come into rural industries.

Q You are also involved with the Forestry Commission in getting young people started in farming? Initially I was involved with the commission through sitting on its renewable energy committee which looked at sustainable fuel opportunities on its estates. I was then appointed to the commission’s main committee during the time there was a change of focus from growing vast tonnages of timber to fulfilling a wider need in providing more public benefits in and around towns as well as improving leisure and tourism facilities on the wider estate. It was a real re-positioning of the commission.

Q Whenever forestry is mentioned to farmers, there is an adverse reaction. Can this view be changed? We must concentrate on integrated land use. Look at Europe where there is much more integration. It is a big challenge balancing the needs of the hill livestock industry and that of the timber industry which is also worth millions to the economy.

Q Do you see starter farms on commission land as another way to bridge the divide? I have been involved on the selection panels for all the new entrants and I have been tremendously impressed by the drive and enthusiasm of those interviewed

Q Will there be more starter farms? At the moment we are interviewing for two – one in Aberdeenshire and one outside Dundee. There are 11 units now and they are now top ambassadors for integrated land use.

Q Are there lessons from starter farms? They were set up as part-time units so that the tenant had another income but we have found that most of the new tenants already had rented some land and were keeping stock on it. I believe there are more opportunities to let the next generation start farming. Apart from the commission, there are other organisations and individuals who could let some land to give someone a start. I have come across a number of landowners and farmers who are at retiral age. If there was a bit of freedom of tenure, they could let some land out to young aspiring farmers.

Q You also sat on the Rent Review Group looking at how the rental system could be improved. Do you have any comment on the group’s findings? We came across many, many examples where the present system was working well. Most rental problems occurred on estates where an outside agent had been brought in or where there was some underlying problem unrelated to the rent.

Q In your career how much has your own farming interest helped? Having been born and brought up on a farm and now with children and grandchildren involved on the farm near Gorebridge, it has kept me in touch with reality.

Q Another role you have is as a director of the Royal Highland Agricultural Society. What does that involve? In 2001, I was asked to be a vice-president representing the Lothians. Because of the foot and mouth outbreak, there was no show that year. That demonstrated how dependant the society was on a successful show. Now with a different emphasis, the society’s income does not vary tremendously year on year. The show’s percentage contribution to the total income is dropping as Ingliston hosts more and more events and exhibitions. It is now the biggest indoor and outdoor event location for the whole of Scotland. I was involved in the society’s defence against the compulsory purchase order brought about by the proposed expansion of Edinburgh Airport. More recently, I have been involved in developing the masterplan for the whole of Ingliston which is an ambitious project. Because of the economic recession, it has been on hold but we are beginning to move forward now.

Henry Graham is the Scottish chairman of Lantra.