The Agriculture and Rural Communities Scotland bill continues to be scrutinised by MSPs at Holyrood.

December will see three roundtable events take place. The first is on the adoption and use of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, while the second covers the production of high-quality food. The third will examine on-farm nature restoration, climate mitigation, and adaptation.

At the end of January, a further roundtable event will cover enabling rural communities to thrive, while February will see Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon give evidence to the committee.

The bill, first published in September, has three sections.

The first sets out four key objectives of agriculture policy in Scotland. These are the adoption and use of sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, the production of high-quality food, the facilitation of on-farm nature restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation, and enabling rural communities to thrive.

The second section places a duty on Scottish Ministers to prepare a 'rural support plan', which sets out how Scottish Ministers aim to use the powers given to them to provide rural support for different purposes set out in the Bill.

The plan must also set out how Scottish Ministers plan to carry out their functions under the bill.

The third section specifies that Scottish Ministers must have regard to a number of issues when preparing the plan.

These are the objectives for rural support set out in the first section; proposals and policies related to agriculture, forestry, and rural land use in the statutory Climate Change Plan; any other statutory duty of the Scottish Ministers relating to agriculture or the environment, and developments in law and policy of the EU.

The bill has been criticised for its lack of detail, but the Scottish Parliament has pointed out that the document is a framework bill that confers powers, places some duties on Scottish Ministers, and enables changes to be made, but does not include the detail of a future agriculture policy for Scotland.

There have been two consultations on the bill so far. The first asked for views on the recommendations and key issues arising from the farmer-led climate change groups.

In February this year, the Scottish Government published the 'Agricultural Reform Route Map', which gave some indications of the shape of a future agriculture policy in Scotland, timelines for the transition, and illustrates the four-tiered model first introduced in the consultation on an agriculture bill.

A key part of the process so far has been the creation of 'The Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB). The board consists of farmers, crofters, representatives across the supply chain, and environmental interests and is supported by an academic advisory panel.

The group, jointly headed by Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon and NFUS chief Martin Kennedy, was established to "support the implementation of policy reform, incorporating the relevant recommendations from the farmer-led groups.”

The Scottish Government has made three high-level commitments to reforming agri policy.

The first is to target at least half of all funding for farmers and crofters towards actions with outcomes that support climate mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity gain, the second is to maintain direct support for farmers and crofters and the third is to introduce conditions for receiving agricultural support.

It is understood that the bill is expected to go through Parliament before the summer recess.