THE FUTURE of Scottish farming is in safe hands, if the innovative and engaged young people who attended last weekend’s SAYFC Agri Affairs weekend are anything to go by.

After two days of thought-provoking workshops, educational farm visits and talks from leading members of the farming industry – delegates left feeling energised and excited about the long-term future of farming.

More than 70 delegates attended the two-day event at the Hilton Hotel, in North Queensferry, attracting members of YF groups from across the UK. ‘Growing ambition’ was the theme of the conference and gauging from the stories and plans of the delegates who attended, there is an air of change on the cards for British agriculture and young people will lead the way in challenging traditional practices and embracing new and innovative ones.

The Scottish Farmer:

Current vice-chair of the SAYFC Agri Affairs committee, Andrew MacGregor, commented: “The enthusiasm of all the delegates this weekend has been infectious. There has been so much to learn from each other and getting everyone together is a perfect opportunity to share in that knowledge.

“This weekend has taught us that there is a lot we can control and if we set our ambitions high, we can reach them. The farm visits were a great chance to see how others have aimed high and taken on new approaches and achieved great results. Having like-minded, energetic people at the conference allows that positivity to rub-off on each other at a time, which is crucial at a time where there is a lot of negativity,” he concluded.

Positivity was in abundance throughout the weekend and finished off a week where negative Brexit headlines filled the newspapers.

The first evening heard from a host of inspiring speakers. Oxford Farming Conference chair, Adrian Ivory, told everyone that to succeed, it was important to adapt to the changing needs of the market and to forge strong relationships with customers.

“It is important to never pigeon-hole yourself – be aware of the changing market and be adaptable. Challenge yourself, don’t become comfortable,” urged Adrian. “In any business it is important to have a custom of focus.

“Don’t produce what you want to look at if your customer doesn’t want to buy it,” he continued. “Building relationships with your customers isn’t a short term, but a long-term game.

“Our industry lacks communication between staff, family, customers – we need to get better at communicating and we also need to pull together to spread a positive view of our industry in the face of all this negativity being spread by vegan activists and environmental scaremongers,” he concluded.

Kate Rowell, the new chairman of QMS, urged Young Farmers to make sure their voices are heard and to dispel the bad reputation of he so-called Millennials. “Old people give you guys a bad reputation. People say you don’t grow up, but I think it is the other way around,” she explained.

“My mum and dad were not engaged with agricultural policy issues at your age and I couldn’t give a stuff when I was in Young Farmers – that was for grown-ups to deal with,” Kate continued. “So, I think it is encouraging that you are all interested in what is going to happen in the future. It is important that you make your voices heard – you are the future of our industry.”

Echoing Adrian’s sentiments was the final speaker, Jim Shanks, a dairy farmer and Nuffield scholar: “The greatest failing we have as human beings is our ability to see failure in others but not recognise it in ourselves. You need to get outside your comfort zone – only then will you begin to see different ways of doing things. Challenging yourself is a fantastic thing and not to be taken defensively – the more you do it, the more you’ll move forward,” he argued.

The Scottish Farmer:

On Saturday delegates had the choice of three farm visits – a beef and sheep trip to Saughland Farm, managed by Peter Eccles; an arable visit to Prestonhall Farm, managed by Bill Gray (both QMS’ Monitor Farms); or a visit to Yester Dairies, owned by Simon and Jackie McCreery.

Those latter farmers explained that they had recently sold off the liquid side of the business to Grahams The Family Dairy to concentrate on soft cheese production.

The group toured the farm which has 400 Holsteins and were shown the production parlour, which is home to Scotland’s only mozzarella production.

Yester relies heavily on migrant workers and Simon explained that the uncertainty over Brexit is stunting progress within the sector. “Market volatility is the real issue, but Brexit or not, farmers will cope either way, we just need certainty. If independence comes back on the agenda, it will just throw the industry off course again,” Simon stressed.

The Scottish Farmer:

After those visits, the groups had lunch and a tour at Craigie’s Farm, where owner Jim Sinclair explained how the farm has expanded and diversified into a leading visitor attraction, with an in-demand farm shop, pick your own fruit and a ‘meet the animals’ attraction for kids to enjoy. Later, there was an afternoon of talks and workshops which included a presentation by Massey Ferguson on new technology and a session delivered by Scottish Power Energy Networks on taking care to mind overhead power lines and the terrible consequences that can ensue.

Delegates also attended two further sessions out of a choice of four. On offer was a discussion on setting goals by the Schulte Group and a talk on soil health by AHDB; while RBS delivered a session on borrowing and offered top advice on the importance of succession planning and recognising a successful business plan.

The final workshop was a session on building up your social and digital media profile by Rebecca Dawes, of Jane Craigie Marketing. She showed the importance of using social media sites to better engage with customers and talked through the process of how businesses can choose specific timings, marketing settings and imagery options, to deliver the biggest impact on their desired audience.

The evening speaker was RHASS chairman, Lanarkshire farmer, Jimmy Warnock. His inspiring but light-hearted talk had a harder edge to it too: “We are gathered here tonight with the country in a state of crisis. Indecision is rife, incompetence abounds and our government is in disarray.

“Our farming industry has been attacked on all fronts by ill-informed idealistic idiots. With the theme being ‘growing ambition’ I say to you – your country needs you now! Stand up and be counted, grasp the opportunity, take the reins and crack the whip,” he urged.

“Be positive, because our political leaders are indecisive. You have all the skills to be leaders, the Young Farmers movement has taught you well. Being able to communicate with our customers has been a failing of our industry for far too long. I challenge you all to put that right,” he concluded.

The Sunday morning seminar on rural crime certainly did its best to wake everyone up after a late Saturday night in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime delivered a talk on criminal operations in rural areas. Delegates were urged to put up signs to deter criminals and to do simple things like locking up vehicles and removing keys.

The Scottish Farmer:

The final event was a panel session on topic of what the future held for British agriculture. Panelists included Scottish Liberal Democrats leader, Willie Rennie; dairy farmer and Oxford Farming Conference director, Sally Wilson; and new entrant farmer and agronomist, Zander Hughes.

“You have to be driven and do things for yourselves,” urged Zander. “Young people are the ones with enthusiasm – the ones with a voice who people are hungry to hear from. You are the ones who need to start making the headlines.”