What an industry we would have if we could use most of the current commodity prices as a set piece for a year or two in advance? It would allow proper planning, budgeting and everything that the Dragon's Den entrepreneurs would advise any business to have.

Imagine planning ahead with the guarantee of receiving present-day record prime sheep and cattle prices, wheat (the base upon which all grain prices are set) at this more than acceptable level, milk doing 'OK' and even potatoes getting to where they should be – or at least the best of Maris Piper. Then, there's the pedigree trade, which has been storming for just about everything with four legs.

It's a good bet that there were a few alarm bells being rung by accountants to some of their clients in March: "Get some money spent, before the tax man grabbeth it." The downside is, most of the 'big' things that you might want to buy are in a state of flux – there are few things that any farmer would need, tractors, combines, machinery, or sheds, that are ready off the shelf at the moment. But, as ever, when farming makes money, the spend reaches out from every farm like a spider's web – in other words, a great big circular economy gives the whole of rural Scotland a boost, via the feed trade, the supply businesses and the machinery men and downstream all the way.

That should not be lost on those who have political ambitions for next week's Scottish Elections. A strong rural circular economy means we have a sustainable business model that nurtures and supports all it touches. Vast areas of trees grown on productive agricultural soil do not provide this – they do not support the newsagents, the local school, the Postie and the provision of rural services. With mono-culture forestry, it's a one-way street economy that does little in the way of social investment in rural areas or people.

That's why balance and care is needed in determining future policy both for agriculture and forestry. This is a time for a steady, firm and well-informed hand to be used to guide these future strategies. There are fantastic opportunities out there for agro-forestry whereby this delicate balance is maintained ... and that must be the future for Scotland.

We also need politics to help stop the demonisation of farming, rural ways of life like hunting, shooting and fishing, and bring back a democratic voice to country people who really do know about their environment and how to look after it.

It's nice to see that even the Greens look upon carbon sequestration by grassland as being a credible 'thing'. Studies in other parts of the world, where there are infinitely fewer natural resources than ours, show that livestock grazing productive grassland have great potential to be carbon neutral in what they produce.

Scotland's rural areas deserve more than being a sterile monoculture and merit the political acknowledgement that a vibrant and productive farming sector can co-exist with afforestation targets and carbon sequestration. This is not about the politics of an independent Scotland, this is about the ambitions of all of Scotland, regardless of inclination.

And, if we could vote for a week of soft spring rain and warm sun ... that would be a good thing too!