Scottish Beef Association chair, Neil McCorkindale

The emergence of convergence certainly proved for once and for all what an unfair and complex support system the Scottish livestock industry is currently working under. While the SBA were sympathetic to the Scottish Government's position in sticking to the principles of convergence and getting rid of the hot potato of £90 million, the predictable uproar from the different areas in the country emphasised how much an area support scheme simply does not work for Scotland.

It is difficult to get away from climate change in the present circumstances – I wish that the so called activists would stop getting a platform to tell us what we already know and announcing something will have to be done.

Maybe when thousands of people visit Glasgow next year, instead of wining and dining at their governments' or tax payers' expense, and telling one another something will have to be done now, the BBC could take them out into the Scottish countryside and show them first hand how it is possible to produce food in a sustainable and efficient way.

Farming working hand in hand with environmental schemes, forestry, and wildlife! Not deforestation, hormone-treated cattle in feedlots or slurry running into rivers. What an opportunity for the BBC to show the world something is being done in Scotland in a sensible balanced way which allows all organisations to achieve their priorities. The SBA looks forward to working with the Scottish Government in the forthcoming years to maintain this approach. But will the rest of the world do likewise? A very good New Year to all.