Brexit front and centre for NFUS

With no elections for the presidential posts this year, NFU Scotland has said that the key focus of its annual meeting will be firmly on Brexit.

Union president Andrew Mccornick said yesterday that even as the UK’S exdit day drew closer, the future for Scotland and the UK remained frustratingly unclear and was subject to intense debate.

“NFU Scotland, at a political level, remains on the front foot in a bid to secure the very best deal for our industry, and this conference will continue the process of encouraging our membership to recognise that change is coming,” he said.

Mccornick said that while Scotland’s farmers and crofters filled a plethora of roles, including being the cornerstone of a growing food and drink sector, the life blood of the rural economy and responsible for the countryside and environment enjoyed by millions, there was no escaping the fact that farm incomes were falling. .

“This suggests that food chains must change in the future if all parties are to benefit from the ambitious targets for our food and drink sector,” he said. “Similarly, environmental rhetoric rarely recognises the public good that Scotland’s farmers and crofters already deliver.”

Mccornick said the conference in Glasgow on 8 and 9 February presented an opportunity for key stakeholders to provide their vision for Scottish agriculture.

“A part of that vision may involve farm businesses embracing the need to diversify and we also tackle the thorny issue of how, as an industry, we engage, educate and inform the Scottish public about farming and where their food comes from. We have a great story to tell.”