Scotland

It follows news leadership contender Kate Forbes turned down the role

Farming organisations have congratulated Humza Yousaf on winning the Scottish leadership election race to become Scotland’s new First Minister.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon has welcomed the publication of new HMRC trade statistics showing overseas exports of Scottish food and drink were worth £8.1 billion in 2022 – the highest figure on record.

With calls for Scottish Government to provide more support to farmers facing soaring costs, Ewan Pate spoke to farmers on Westray about their fears for the future.

Businesses need to have a plan to prosper through the period of change to Scottish farm support, with inflation eroding support payments in real terms across the UK.

Ambitious renewable energy targets will require a large amount of agricultural land across Scotland and the rest of the UK, with the impact not well-understood.

Scottish crofters can now apply for larger sums of money to upgrade their housing under the Croft House Grant.

Farmers need to ask themselves where they want their business to be in 10 years’ time if they wanted to take control and manage change before it manages them.

With a wide difference in incomes between different agricultural sectors this season, Cedric Porter reports on the latest Farm Business Income figures.

Common grazings have been a feature of the crofting areas of Scotland for centuries and cover still over 500,000 hectares of the highlands and islands.