FEMALE farmers should come forward to stand in next year's National Farmers Union Scotland leadership elections, according to Highland MSP Kate Forbes. 
"There are no female candidates for next year’s NFU Scotland election and action should be taken to improve female representation on the board to provide a better understanding of the issues facing women in farming," said Ms Forbes, who is the SNP MSP for Skye, Badenoch and Lochaber.
“NFU Scotland play a hugely important role working for farmers interests, and women working in farming should see a role for themselves as representatives of the industry. The SNP are committed to achieving gender balance on all public boards by 2020 and are encouraging the private sector to do the same. 
"I would encourage any female farmers who want to represent the modern industry as a whole to put their name forward for the president or vice-president elections that currently have no female candidates," she said. "We have seen a rise in the number of women in farming over the years and NFUS’s board should reflect this fact in order to properly represent and defend the interests of the whole farming community."