Donald Macdonald, from North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, lives in a croft that has been in the family for nearly a hundred years.

Alongside his wife, Caroline who he married in 2001, and his two children Rachel, 14, and Andrew, 12, Donald farms a mixture of livestock throughout the year, including 43 Simmental and Limousin cows and 200 Cheviot sheep, and 475 acres of land. In total, there are 16 crofts in the area, nine north of Clachan Sands and eight in Newton, all of whom know each other and often work together.

“Working together with neighbouring crofts is an important part of how we farm," said Donald. "At calving time, for example, we always phone each other if there’s any trouble and try our best to look out for each other when out and about.

“Crofting is important to Scotland for a number of reasons. We produce a lot of stock that mainland farms rely on. This creates a network of other job types, all of which are underpinned by this relationship, helping to strengthen employment and support the local economy.

“At the same time, crofting has a significant bearing on maintaining the local population, communities, and townships by giving people a place to live and work," said Donald. "Further, what a lot of people often don’t realise is the positive impact that crofting has on the local ecology; grazing, ploughing, and our livestock play an important role in maintaining the habitats of a lot of wildlife, so any decisions we aren’t able to influence will have a knock-on effect.

“The Crofting Commission plays a vital role in regulating our industry, providing impartial oversight and independent monitoring. It gives crofters a voice and platform through which we can stand up for ourselves, raise any concerns and make sure our interests are not overlooked, which is why the CC elections are so important to us. Crofting is evolving so it is important that we are able to influence any changes to the way we are regulated from above, particularly with all the uncertainty and concern around Brexit and CAP reform," he said.

“My hope is that we will develop a vibrant network of townships and thriving crofting. But to make that happen we have to be able to guarantee an income for crofters and help the next generation continue to work that land and develop larger crofts more suited to the economic demands of modern times. Crofting is not just about livestock, many people have crofts for forestry and tourism, making the most of the land they have, so helping crofters be innovative about the way they grow is important."