The race to become the next president of NFU Scotland has opened out considerably with the emergence of a new candidate.
Vice-presidents Allan Bowie and Rob Livesey had already thrown their hats into the ring, and they have now been joined by combinable crops committee chairman Andrew Moir.
A high-profile member of the farming community through his chairmanships of Ringlink and Agriscot, Mr Moir is no lightweight contender.
He contract farms 650 arable acres at Thornton, Laurencekirk, specialising in winter cropping.
Married with three sons, he was brought up on the family farm near Huntly and has a background in beef, sheep and arable.
He has headed the combinable crops committee for the last three years, and previously served on the NFUS milk committee.
St Andrews-based Allan Bowie, who farms 850 acres of mostly arable land on contract arrangements in north-east Fife and Clackmannanshire, has been a vice-president since 2009.
Rob Livesey farms 800 tenanted acres from his base near Melrose, specialising in beef and sheep farming.
He has been a vice-president for two years.
All three will be vying for the top post when present incumbent Nigel Miller stands down at the annual meeting on February 10, having served the maximum allowable four-year term as president.
All three presidential candidates have also said they will stand for vice-president but there will be competition here, too, with another three members declaring their intention to stand for the two available posts.
They are Andrew McCornick, Dumfries and Galloway regional board chairman; Kelvin Pate who farms near Gifford and is vice-chairman of Lothian and Borders regional board; and John Smith, chairman of the union’s legal and technical committee.
This rush of candidates will certainly have enlivened the election process and, with four weeks left before nominations close, there might even be more competition.
Now all six candidates face the gruelling prospect of criss-crossing the country to attend hustings which will be held in conjunction with regional annual meetings in January.
The election process eschews the one-man, one-vote principle and is instead confined to the NFUS Council, which is made up of representatives from each of the organisation’s 73 branches.
NFU Scotland chief executive Scott Walker said: “For a membership organisation it is healthy to see so many people interested in taking on these posts.
“With the closing date for nominations not until December 12, this is not necessarily the final field as more people may come forward.
“Whoever is elected will lead the organisation and represent Scottish farmers on issues that affect all farm-based businesses in Scotland.”