This has been a tough year for many farmers.

The week after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022, my wife, Anna and I decided to majorly scale back our farm in Midlothian. Our energy and feed costs were just too much.

After doing some calculations, we saw that under our current business model, even if we received 7kg weaners for free, we could not make a profit, due to huge input costs. We made the big decision to undertake a full depopulation and we are now looking at next steps to restructuring our business.

We’ve done it before. In 2010, we were the first commercial business to import high health F1s and Landrace Danish genetics into the UK and we will do it again.

My career in agri-politics started in SAYFC, where I was fortunate to be National Chairman in 1999/2000. This naturally led me towards the NFUS and I started on the pigs and poultry committee. I was chairman of it for four years whilst also sitting on the renumeration committee. Having been the 2019-2020 Lothians and Borders NFUS chair, I stepped up to be NFUS vice-president in February, 2020.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being the NFUS VP these last two years. Going around the shows this summer, starting with the Highland Show with our new site (which I thought worked very well and hope to be there again in 2023), was a highlight for me. Everyone was glad to back and the stand was bustling for four days solid!

With the job of VP you must like travelling – thankfully, I do! My journeys have taken me across the full length of Scotland, from Wigtown Show all the way up to Cunningsburgh Show, in Shetland. Here, there was the added pressure of judging the champions class, in which I placed the Shetland cow first. It is always great to attend these shows and meet farmers and crofters from every corner of the country.

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The first day in Shetland was fantastic weather – warm and dry with a nice breeze. The second day was quite a bit wetter. On this day, I had to pull the car over to have an urgent (and rather ironic) zoom call with SEPA to discuss, regretfully, halting water abstraction licences from bore-holes and the river Eden, in Fife, due to the severe drought.

The raindrops were bouncing so hard off my car windscreen that I could hardly hear the zoom call! This just highlighted the variety of farming conditions and land we have in Scotland. We, at NFUS, must continue to showcase these differences to MPs and MSPs alike.

These differences make our farming landscape unique, but there are some differences that must not be disregarded. Infrastructure discrepancies across Scotland are a key issue for Scottish farming. Ferries must work, so must roads.

Likewise, internet connection and national grid capacity are crucial for productivity and profit. Quality infrastructure is essential for maintaining food production.

Our governments continue to push for biodiversity, clean air and improved soils on our farms. We have followed the EU’s rules for the past two generations and now we are being asked to farm to a different tune. Food production must be at the centre of any new policy and farmers must be able to make a profit. If we cannot make a profit, how are we expected to feed a nation whilst adding on all these extras commitments?

Input costs continue to be a challenge for farmers with a 200% increase in fertiliser prices. Not only has this affected arable, but livestock businesses too and as we face the spring, labour shortages will also create more problems to come.

At the end of the day, however, we must continue to look to ourselves. We must be more resilient to the shocks the rest of the world throws at us. By becoming more resilient, we can ensure we are sure-footed in both domestic and international markets.

I have no doubt that we can move forward and adapt. We’ve had climate, covid and conflict and now we ask our governments for certainty, commitment and consistency.