GIVEN THE UK's departure from the EU, it seems unlikely that we will see the farm commissioner, Phil Hogan, back in Scotland for a high profile visit.

There are no politics left for him to play in the UK, although farmers here will be part of the EU, and all its rules, right up to the day when Brexit happens. That is unfortunate, because not only is Hogan engaging company, with a good knowledge of and interest in agriculture, he has some good ideas about the future.

For now, much of his attention is on the future shape of the CAP, which will be reformed in 2020. There is already more certainty about where this is going than is the case in the UK. For farmers in the EU 27, which it will be after Brexit, it is encouraging Hogan has said direct payments will remain part of the new CAP. They will not be as generous as they are now but will be there as a safety net.

Such an assurance would be welcome in the UK, as it would give the industry some certainty about the future after the removal of CAP supports. Indeed given the lacklustre performance of Defra and the lack of any real interest in agriculture at Westminster, any comment about future plans would be welcome progress.

Hogan remains determined to tackle two issues that frustrate farmers in every member state, and that will continue to frustrate farmers here after Brexit. The first is the lack of fairness along the food supply chain, including retailers' use of what are deemed unfair trade practices. In this regard the UK, with its Grocery Code Adjudicator, is ahead of the EU, but Hogan is determined to drive similar initiatives.

He is also keen to see more producer organisations established and to relax rules in the dairy sector that would allow these organisations to work collectively to restrict supplies to drive up prices. This would be illegal under EU and indeed national competition rules, but Hogan seems willing to allow the dairy sector in particular to be a special case.

The other problem Hogan wants to see tackled is the issue of volatility – again with a focus on the dairy sector. This is here to stay, and by definition the unpredictability of volatility makes it damaging for farmers. It makes long term planning impossible. As a commissioner from Ireland, Hogan understand the dairy sector and through the price crisis of last year he managed it well, without drastic action to curb supplies. He is still ensuring that it is managed well, by rejecting calls for the stocks of skim milk powder in intervention to be sold at rock bottom prices. This would damage a still fragile market.

Hogan also has longer term ideas for the dairy markets. He wants to create conditions where a futures market could work properly. That would help processors and ultimately farmers reduce the risk of volatility, and could pave the way for a greater use of supply contracts.

Key to this would be better information about prices. The current Milk Market Observatory is of little use, because figures are out of date by the time they are published. It also fails to account for countries that are big sellers of dairy products manipulating sales to produce specific results. The New Zealand Global Dairy Trade auction is widely followed, but it is influenced by the volumes put forward for sale.

What Hogan wants is a European dairy price index, built around factors that are relevant to what is actually happening. This would take more account of consumer markets in Europe and less account of speculative global markets, which drive volatility.

This adds credence to the widespread view that Hogan is a good commissioner, and one who really does understand farming, agricultural markets and rural development. Even if he does not remain in Brussels after 2019, as a two term commissioner like Franz Fischler, he will have made his mark. He will leave structures that will lead to a simplified CAP after 2020 with a good safety net, and policies that will tackle price volatility and the exploitation of farmers by powerful, aggressive retailers.

That is great news for farmers in the EU 27. Somehow in the UK we will have to find ways to create parallel structures, or to somehow buy into what the EU does on volatility. That will demand vision not now being shown at Westminster.