IT IS all change at the top of NFU Scotland, and it was no understatement when the new president, Andrew McCornick, said 'difficult and challenging' times lay ahead.

In reality those challenges are already here, and he was right in saying that the importance of Scottish farming must be underlined in the highest places in government.

With Brexit a reality, the real battle the new union president will face will be at Westminster. There the challenge will be to persuade ministers of the need for sensible support measures for agriculture after we leave the CAP. Departure is now a done deal, and we will only be spectators as the remaining EU member states develop a new CAP to be in place after 2020.

Winning a deal at Westminster will dwarf all the other challenges NFU Scotland, and indeed the other UK unions, have faced over the years. They will be pushing against a Treasury that will see agriculture well down the list of deserving causes for funds. Overcoming that opposition will demand a big joint effort by all the UK unions.

If they fight each other, for example over the sharing of funds between the devolved regions, it will not produce the outcome needed. Equally if the NFU in England automatically believes it has a right to be in the driving seat for the negotiations that will not deliver the political pressure needed for a deal. The ultimate aim has to be the devolution of as much decision making power as possible to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. But before that can happen the unions have to work together to make sure they secure as big a pot of funding as possible, so that there is something worth dividing.

After the House of Commons vote on Brexit, departure from the EU feels a lot more real. The disengagement from the EU and its structures, which have been central to legislation here for more than 40 years, is now a reality. It is a daunting time for anyone to be leader of a farm lobby organisation. But despite the difficult negotiations that lie ahead, the fact that there was competition for the top posts in Scotland is evidence the industry is serious about taking on those challenges and delivering a good outcome for farmers.

As Brexit becomes more real, questions arise that go well beyond future support for agriculture. Across government, civil servants are coming to realise just how embedded the UK is with EU legislation and regulation. Planes from the UK fly freely in European airspace, because the UK is an EU member state. Drug approval is simplified because the UK can be part of a pan-European process. This is why the Great Repeal Bill will be needed to ensure legislation does not stop when the UK leaves the EU. Now when looking at any announcement in Brussels about agriculture, it is tempting to wonder what will happen after Brexit.

Last week the European Commission agreed a €165 million package to help tackle diseases that pose a risk to member states, including swine fever, TB and brucellosis as well as more exotic diseases like rabies.

This raises question about how and whether the UK will do this after Brexit. It can opt out, go it alone or negotiate to be part of the EU plan, presumably making a financial contribution. The European Commission is investing close to €200 million a year to promote EU food. It removed much of the responsibility in this area from member states. Now the UK will have to build new structures to promote food, not least because the EU will become a competitor and because companies will have to crack the EU 27 market, of which they were automatically a part through the Single Market.

The list of challenges seems endless. It includes things like approval for veterinary drugs when EU licenses expire, approval for new crops including GM, early warning and coordination of food and animal health issues. These and many more will have to be brought into a new UK structure, not only to support agriculture but to manage the wider farming and food industry.

This is not impossible, but for it to happen there will have to be a lot more drive at Westminster than is now the case. Those are the 'highest places in government' Andrew McCornick will have to tackle – and that is a far from enviable task.