Royal Highland Show demonstrates how technology is changing Scottish farming

The podcast features: Alan Laidlaw, Chief Executive Officer at RHASS; Bill Gray, Estate Manager at Preston Hall, former Chairman of RHASS and current RHASS Director; George Lyon, former MSP and MEP, previous president of NFU Scotland, former journalist, farmer, and incoming RHASS President for Strathclyde; and Sarah Simpson, FarmFdirector at Simpson Farms and an agri policy consultant.

In the podcast, Laidlaw says that when it comes to sustainability, agriculture can often get a bit of a “bad rap.”. He explains: “People quite often blame cows and farms as part of the problem. And they maybe don’t identify agriculture as much a part of the solution as it can be.”

Gray says it is important to consider how food is produced as part of the sustainability agenda, and adds that there needs to be a focus on food security and ensuring Scotland, and the UK as a whole, is able to effectively feed itself.

“It’s a question of getting that message across on the levels of finer detail around the likes of soil health and fertility from a farming perspective,” adds Gray.

Lyon points out that agriculture is in the same position as other industries in that it has net zero targets to meet. He believes more leadership is required, including from the Scottish government in terms of agricultural policy, to make the most of the opportunities available and to incentivise farmers to embrace change.

And, according to Simpson, technology and innovation will be essential if agriculture is to meet climate targets. “Things are going to have to move at speed and our production cycles are long. We need lots of notice and investment to be able to get there,” she says.