IT'S been a trying couple of weeks for everyone due to the coronavirus pandemic, but as a reader of The Scottish Farmer, you can be assured that we are doing our utmost to deliver what you expect from us every week.

We haven't been around for 127 years for nothing, though this week has been as big a test as we have had for generations. The effects of Covid-19 will be with all of us for some time, but we appreciate the ‘can do’ attitude of farmers in their efforts to keep the nation fed. In these extraordinary times, we are sure the farming industry will respond as they have done for generations.

Farmers have been saying for months – and in the face of considerable criticism from the likes of the 'we don't need farmers' economic 'guru', Tim Leunig (he's been strangely quiet these past few days) – that food security was as important now as it ever was, if not more so ... and this past week has shown that to be exactly the case.

There is every reason to suggest that food supplies will actually tighten even further and so, finally, farmers might get the recognition they deserve for the long hours milking cows, calving, lambing and tending to crops and other livestock. Hopefully it will yet be appreciated that everyone can ‘Buy local, eat local’ – and they will help save the planet.

Our team still aims to be out and about – many of us are working from home – but we are taking as many precautions as we can to keep everyone safe. We promise to deliver our usual mix of news, views and sale reports from around the nation. In trying times, it is important to keep abreast of market trends and that’s something we hope we excel at.

We are conscious, though, that for some, for whatever reason, getting a hold of The Scottish Farmer might not be so easy, especially if you have to leave your home to pick it up and cannot do so.

With that in mind, we plan to make it as easy as possible for you to continue to read your favourite farming newspaper, whether it be via an on-line package or by subscription and post, at the very least until everything settles down.

This is YOUR newspaper and we pledge to deliver it to you – whichever way you choose ...

Here's what we can offer:

  • 3-month subscription £35
  • 6-month subscription £70
  • 1-year subscription £134 (plus free gift of Hoggs of Fife Shacket or Glen Scotia whisky)
  • 2-year subscription £244 (plus free gift of Hoggs of Fife Shacket or Glen Scotia whisky)

Or, in the digital world:

  • £2 for two months is our current offer

Click here to go straight to subscriptions -> http://www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk/subscriptions