Scottish farmers will learn more about the shape of future agricultural policy when Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon addresses the farmers’ union’s annual conference on Friday.
NFU Scotland (NFUS) president Martin Kennedy assured his virtual audience at the opening session of the two-day online event that farmers voices were being heard in discussions held by the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), the group set up to thrash out future policy which he co-chairs with Ms Gougeon.
He said: “There’s still a lot of work for the ARIOB to oversee and implement, but I’m confident the Cabinet Secretary will announce some of the progress made and allude to future developments that will be in our interest in the near future.”
Mr Kennedy later defended his role in the ARIOB during a question and answer session when he was asked if co-chairing the body limited the union’s ability to criticise any of the decisions made.
He replied: “Its vital we’re in the mix and steering the direction of travel, but I don’t think it’s compromising our ability to criticise.
“I know full well my head’s on the block and to a certain extend so is NFU Scotland’s but we are in completely unchartered waters now. I would be more worried if we’d turned down the ability to be in the mix and ended up in a policy situation that’s disastrous for Scotland.
“We’d maybe look back at that point and say NFU Scotland turned down the opportunity to avoid this situation and didn’t take it. That’s what I’d be more concerned about.”
In his address to members Mr Kennedy outlined the long list of issues which are beleaguering the industry, including escalating input costs, labour shortages, climate change, imbalanced supply chains, unscrutinised trade deals, and continued uncertainty around future policy and support.
He called on policy makers to “take their heads out of the sand”, listen hard and deliver viable support to an industry which has a critical role to play in the green recovery.
He added: “Our voice needs to be heard not only because it’s in our best interest but it’s also in the best interest of our consumers and our economy.”