Columnists

Opinion

Who misses the old MacRobert Pavilion? What is this shiny new thing in its place?

Not all change is bad – and this is still our one and only Highland Show
WHO MISSES the good old days of the Royal Highland Show? The area near the old Herdsmans that always turned to mud? The stockmans' accommodation and its 'hot' water system? Who longs for that pinch point at the main ring access where crowds would get held up seemingly forever as a parade of beasts marched through at their own leisurely pace?

Doug Niven Ref:RH300119128 Rob Haining / The Scottish Farmer

Opinion Doug Niven: Global grain and oilseed markets tighten due to war and weather

John Scott of Fearn Farm:

Opinion We can’t rely on others to tell our farming story

Jim Brown (Pic ref:RH0111170305)

Opinion Jim Brown celebrates a few anniversaries in his Farmer's View column

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales during the State Opening of Parliament, where he delivered the Queen's Speech outlining the government's plans for the coming parliamentary year (Pic: Ben Stansall - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Opinion Westminster clings on to its undeliverable greening policies

Gene editing relies on highlighting or suppressing genes that already exist within an organism's own genome - it does not, as with genetic modification, draw on genes from other species

Opinion Our future lies in the genes

John Elliot (Pic: Rob Haining)

Opinion John Elliot's Farmer's View: Making sheep faulds that allow you to go with the flow

Alasdair Macnab Ref:EC210519625

Opinion Learn the new language of change– and take our future into our own hands

Over trade alone, farmers – many of whom, particularly in England, supported Brexit – have not done well

Opinion Richard Wright's Euro Notebook: When no deal is better than any deal?

RHET Forth Valley raised £3000 to conribute to practical education of agriculture for schools across the district

Opinion RHET Forth Valley raises £3000 to contribute to education within schools

Love them or loathe them, carbon audits will be a necessary evil if we are to defend food production against anti-farming sentiment

Opinion The Scottish Farmer speaks: Getting Scotland's new agri-policy rules right

Lucy Mitchell is the new National chair of SAYFC Ref: Paul Watt

Opinion SAYFC is back with a bang

Board of Trustees (L-R): Katie Burns, Hamish Logan, Peter Duthie, Sarah Mowat, Jennifer Jones, Jane Strawhorn, Lucy Mitchell, Amy Jo Reid, Annabel Brown, Bill Arnot and Alex Allison Ref: Paul Watt

Young Farmers New SAYFC National chair Lucy Mitchell of West Fife JAC looks to the future

Pat Wilson Ref:EC11419446

Opinion Pat Wilson: Even at 40ppl dairying's not at 'break-even'

Neil Wilson, executive director of the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland (IAAS)

Opinion Take power back to the farm gate and away from the supermarkets – sell through the live ring

RECIPIENTS of farm support should be active in wellies, not idle in slippers

Opinion The Scottish Farmer speaks: Why do we have 'slipper farmers' in our support system

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the person who led Brexit, needs to acknowledge that just because a policy is forged in the EU does not make it necessarily bad (Pic: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

Opinion French farm policy is focussed on food security – Brexit Britain can only look on with envy

Fertiliser prices are up by a whopping 370%

Opinion Structural imbalance in the fertiliser market needs tackled

Jim Walker Ref:RH250118034

Opinion Time for QMS levy payers to have their say?

IS THERE a happier sight than livestock getting back out onto pasture in the spring?

Opinion A joy to be out – but be careful

Opinion GB Potatoes will be focussed on the job

Claire Simonetta

Opinion Why 'tick box' greening won't work

The Royal Highland Show celebrates 200 years this year – but has it's new ticketing policy gone too far?

Opinion The Highland Show is it for all?

DOMESTIC FARMERS must stress the positive message:

Opinion Euro Note Book - Farmers need to reassure the public that they can keep them fed

Opinion Jim Brown' Farm View: Now is the time for home-grown energy and food

2021 felt like a good year for Scottish farming - but the latest income figures do not cover the recent huge hike in input costs

Opinion Incomes bounced back in 2021 – but what of this year?

It's gradually beginning to dawn that unless primary producers are rewarded, then this will be the prospect in supermarkets - empty shelves

Opinion The Scottish Farmer's View: Farming is an asset that must be recognised

A COUNTRY cannot survive long without food

Opinion Food security is as strategically important as defence funding

Ref:RH131217045

Opinion Time for a balance that will help nature

Prime Minister Boris Johnson messes around with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak during a visit to a brewery in London (Pic: Dan Kitwood/PA Wire)

Opinion Food is still not on Westminster's agenda

There with Ukraine

Opinion The SF Leader column: 'Assurance' needs clarity and purpose

Jim Walker Ref:RH250118034

Opinion Home-grown the only way to go

IN VERY recent memory, supermarket shelves have been stripped bare when the UK supply chain faltered

Opinion Depending on food imports is potentially disastrous

#ThereWithUkraine

Opinion How you can help Ukraine

David MacKenzie urges beef farmers to become more efficient

Opinion Efficiency: What does it mean for beef?

Drew Steel is a past chairman of Callander YFC and remains an active member

Opinion Drew Steel – a social media star with an important message to share

UKRAINE has long been a huge exporter of proteins and wheat, with strong links to the UK. Pictured here, in happier times, Ukraine-based Scots agronomist Dr Keith Dawson (left) shares some fun with one of his local counterparts when checking on the soil

Opinion Europe moves to shore up food supplies – will the UK follow?

We're not quite suffering the privations of WW2, but there's a growing need for the UK to take food security more seriously

Opinion Time for living in the 'now'

James Porter Ref:RH19617389

Opinion Food security must now be top of the agenda

Flying the flag for Ukraine - but did we hand the keys of the country to Putin?

Opinion Home-grown has never been more important

New Zealand is famed for its sheepmeat exporting muscle

Opinion The new model for trade deals – give the other side everything

Norman Bagley of the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers

Opinion Couldn't Scotland just bring in the overseas labour it needs, and rub Westminster's nose in it?

Hugh Black, butcher, of Hugh Black & Sons feels part of the community at marts

Opinion Livestock marts play a vital role in food traceability

A French farmer protesting - and they do it with such vigour that their politicians listen

Opinion Who ever thought we would miss the French?

Russian troops have launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine (Pic: Mary Ostrovska via AP)

Opinion A conflict that will affect everyone

AT WORK on Balbirnie Home Farms

Farming's reliance on fossil fuels is putting farmers' businesses at risk

Jim Brown Ref:RH0111170304

Opinion Retail giants need to waken up

Opinion Carbon labels would show the real cost of plant-based diets

The right tree in the right place.

Opinion Is the current tree planting agenda threatening Scottish rural life?

Marion MacCormick

PREMIUM It's not oats so simple

Rachael Hamilton MSP wants Scotland to embrace new gene-editing technology

PREMIUM Scottish Conservatives: 'Scotland being 'left behind' on gene-editing

Opinion You've got to be born to be a real 'kenner'

THE UK is now on a separate path to the EU

Opinion EU goes from strength to strength, while UK braces for more pain

Farmers are hoping that new owners for the Brechin slaughterhouse will rejuvenate the Scottish pig industry

Opinion The Scottish Farmer says: A need for a piggie back-up