FARMERS were offered little optimism from a Defra civil servant at a conference about the future of rural communities in Scotland and Ireland, held this week.

Defra's chief scientific advisor, Professor Ian Boyd, outlined what challenges would be faced in order to improve the British farming system, at a joint meeting held by Scotland's Rural College, and Irish agriculture and food development authority, Teagasc.

Those challenges, he said, would be environmental, productivity, and social issues, and would require the farming sector to be reimagined in a different form in future.

“One is around a social challenge, which is about keeping people on the land because we have cultural heritage we want to maintain," said Professor Boyd. “But we also have a productivity challenge, and certain parts of the farming sector will be asked to step up to deliver that.

“And then there’s an environmental challenge, and that cuts across all aspects of farming in some way or another.”

He also claimed that British farmers were not "ambitious" enough about considering what the industry will look like in one or two generations' time, and that farming cannot look like it does now.

Prof Boyd also claimed that many farmers in England believed they would get a positive replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy after Brexit, but that he did not think that would be possible, and added: "Some people are going to be losers and some are going to be winners, and the question is how are you going to compensate the losers."

Reliance on direct payments by farmers, and the industry's vulnerability to volatile markets and exchange rates were also pointed out by Professor Boyd, and he emphasised the importance of unprofitable farmers moving into having profitable businesses.

He also explained that some parts of the industry would need support, and that farmers should be given time to prepare for the changes ahead, and that outcomes, rather than inputs, should be rewarded.