Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Comment: Stop the dithering, it’s time to deliver

Fergus Ewing already has a stack of commissioned reports sitting on his desk.
Fergus Ewing already has a stack of commissioned reports sitting on his desk.

Let’s just crack on with it.

That’s the overriding mood in fields and farm offices as the industry grows increasingly restless and impatient over our government’s failure to give a green light on how Scottish agriculture will be enabled to play its part in enhancing biodiversity and reducing greenhouse gases.

The Scottish Government must know its Stability and Simplicity – or slow and now stagnant – approach no longer cuts it.

Fergus Ewing already has a stack of commissioned reports on the best way forward for rural policy, most of them produced by some of the best farming brains in the country – and what does he do? Order another one.

Enough.

Consultation has been vital and welcome, and the industry is now ready; it can see the direction of travel and understands what needs to be done – and it certainly doesn’t want to wait another four years for change.

But moving on, adopting new technology and gentler practices requires confidence, clarity and assurances that long-term funding support will underpin the transition for at least a decade ahead.

The dithering is just a distraction.

There’s no appetite here to go down the green-max approach to farm support outlined by Defra’s George Eustice this week.

The production of quality food and drink in Scotland is rightly prized, and targets are ambitious.

But if this week’s online debate led by NFU Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust demonstrated anything, it was that farmers and environmentalists are no longer at one another’s throats.

It’s only a generation ago, after all, since Magnus Magnusson, the founder chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage, was roundly booed when he bashed the industry for its attitude to the environment at a union dinner.

The symbiosis between farming and environmental stewardship is now clearly recognised and while there are flash points, such as the impact of Tayside’s growing beaver population on agriculture, there’s a recognition that compromise is necessary.

It’s going to be hard enough to deal with Brexit blows if we’re still rudderless going into 2021.

So, give us the information, Mr Ewing, not just on future policy and funding, but on how these much-vaunted Regional Land Use Partnerships are going to work – something your minister, Mairi Gougeon, failed to explain this week.

This is no longer about farming or the environment, we’re all in it together.

And that includes you, rural secretary. It’s time to man up and deliver.

See story on Page 4