WOMEN IN Agriculture Scotland welcomed attendees from across the country to their autumn conference last November – which also saw the inauguration of three new faces to its committee.

After 18 months of virtual events, organisers were delighted to be able to hold the 'Shine a Light on Women in Agriculture Food and Farming event' in person, at the new Members Pavillion at the Royal Highland Showground.

The speakers on the day were Professor Jude Capper, an independent Livestock Sustainability Consultant based in Oxfordshire, discussing her research on the environmental impact of livestock production systems, and Alix Ritchie from Quality Meat Scotland, who is also one of the latest members to join the WIA committee.

Professor Capper kicked off the speaker session with her presentation ‘Positively sustainable – staying resilient in the current climate’ and empowered attendees to take control of the red meat and farming narrative, understand the concerns of consumers and respectively engage with the right people.

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Ms Ritchie, who lives at Montalt Farm, near Dunning, is the Health and Education Manager for QMS and spoke to delegates about the importance of personal development, trying new things to stay resilient on and off the farm, and the innovative ways she and colleagues are engaging school children to learn about farming practices.

The AGM was conducted by RSABI chair Nina Clancy who thanked outgoing chair, June Geyer, who continues on the committee, as well as outgoing committee members Katrina Barclay, Emma Paterson Taylor and Lizzie Mclaughlin.

Aylett Roan takes over the reins as the new chair and is joined on the committee by new members Ms Ritchie, Ellie Louise Sinclair and Carole Brunton.

Commenting on joining the committee, Ms Ritchie said: "I am excited to join this dynamic committee and hope that I can help to support, inspire and develop women involved in all aspects of agriculture in Scotland personally and professionally."

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Ms Sinclair, who joins the committee from Ellon, added: "It is a fantastic opportunity for me to meet like-minded people in the industry. A safe place that I can share knowledge and experience."

Ms Brunton from Anstruther is the final member to join the committee which sits at 11 members. She said: "This is a great opportunity to work alongside a diverse group of inspirational women and collaborate with different organisations with the same end goal."