Defra Farming Minister Mark Spencer has assured the Scottish government that they will get their share of the ‘cash’ when it comes to supporting rural Scotland.

Speaking to The Scottish Farmer at the Royal Highland Show, the Sherwood MP said: “The old CAP money, if you like, the Scottish Government get their share of that cash. They need to make sure they are supporting Scottish producers to continue to produce great Scottish food but also to protect the fantastic landscape you see here.

"In England we want to do both those things. I hope the Scottish government would recognise how important land managers are to the landscape and food production, to get behind and support them.”

Joining Mr Spencer on the UK Government stand was Scotland Office minister, John Lamont, who commented: “In 2019, we committed to protect that budget which we have done and deliver that funding to the Scottish government.

"From my constituency perspective my farmers are saying they desperately need to know what the funding arrangements are going to be. The money is there, they [farmers] need to make decisions for next year and the year after in how they invest in their land and how they invest in their farms they can not make those decisions because the Scottish government have not set out what the new funding mechanisms are going to be and there is no excuse for that other than dither and delay.”

UK Government’s stand was keen to promote their hi-tech funded projects in Scotland which include a burrowing robot which ‘swims’ through grain bulks to ensure crops are stored more efficiently.

The National Robotarium was on display with its MiRo-E research and educational robot which received £21m of UK Government funding. The Robotarium had also helped develop the ‘Tom v4’ agritech robot which helps farmers reduce herbicide use asnd which was on display on the James Hutton Institute stand.