People need to know what farmers do and how they contribute to the economy and environment, according to Alison Milne. The farmer and self-employed consultant has recently been appointed as co-chair of the National Council of Rural Advisers.

Announced at the Royal Highland show, the new committee has been handpicked by the Minster for the Rural Economy, Fergus Ewing, to provide advice on driving the rural economy post Brexit.

“There’s 2.73% directly employed in agriculture and we’re expected to deliver cheap, quality food and drink ingredients. We’re the bedrock of a thriving rural economy, stewards of the land and we have to deliver that to 100% of the population,” Milne said ahead of the first meeting on 9 August when the committee will set its terms of reference. “What we need to try to develop and promote is that shared sense of why you should be supporting Scottish or British agriculture. Maybe it’s time for a shift in how the burden of that responsibility is shared and how people understand what it is that we’re delivering.”

Shaping future payments

The committee will play a role in the shaping of future of farm support payments once the UK leaves the EU.

“When it came to Brexit, I think a lot of people thought that we were going to have that blank sheet of paper, but the EU regulation is largely driven by WTO in the first place,” Milne said. “We’re going to have to fit within all of that regulatory framework. And also from a trade point of view we’re going to have to continue to meet the standards that we do.”

But with an advisory group such as this, it is hard to see how it can become little more than another talking shop unless it can nail down exactly what it wants to achieve from the outset. A difficult task when there is no specific time- frame set out for the duration of the group.

“It’ll certainly be there for the duration of the Brexit negotiations. If it proves that it is delivering value then it could longer than that,” said Milne. “Any growth recommendations we give to Government are not going to be short term.”

Having previously worked with NFU Scotland, Milne believes her understanding of the family farm structure from Shetland right down to Dumfries and Galloway as well as an ability to listen makes her cut out for a role like this.

“We’re going to have to work with family business issues such as succession, really getting into the nitty gritty of what is going to move the industry forward because it’s got to be about economic growth,” she said.

Ensuring that industry leaders take ownership of the work of the committee will be essential to driving forward any recommendations it produces.

“I did a business plan for our family business,” which is a 750 acre arable and suckler farm. “I spent a long time on it doing all my facts and figures; my husband didn’t even read past the first page. We had a guy come in to do a lean management review and he basically said ‘this is your strategy, your words, your plan, not a joint thing’. So we both jointly worked on something, post-it notes and all the rest of it, and we have now achieved most of the things. So I view this the same. If we don’t have ownership from industry, it’s never going to work.”

The position is unpaid and as a self-employed mother of two, making the decision to give over time to this is admirable.

“I don’t have the time to give to something that isn’t going to deliver,” she said. “I am, and always have been, very passionate about the industry and the future of family farming. I’ve spent a lot of time being frustrated at what I’ve seen as a lack of leadership and a lack of direction and engagement. My hope is that I can deliver it through this.”

Her co-chair is Lorne Crerar, chairman of Highlands and Islands enterprise and a founding partner and chair of leading Scottish commercial law firm Harper Macleod LLP. The committee will have a budget for any work it decides to commission, but Milne did not reveal what the budget is.

Council of advisers members

Archie Gibson - Food & Drink Federation Scotland’s chair and managing director of Agrico UK Ltd.

David Sulman - Executive director of the United Kingdom Forest Products Association.

James Graham - Chief executive of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society.

Sarah Simpson - Director of a dairy farm at Garlieston, near Newton Stewart in Galloway, and a consultant to a group of dairy farms within Dumfries and Galloway.

Alan Laidlaw - Chief executive of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland.

Marion McCormick – Responsible for growing and developing a Scottish fresh meat range with Aldi.

John Kinnaird - Former NFUS president from 2003-2007.

Henry Graham – Farmer who previously held senior roles in the Royal Highland Agricultural Society, Quality Meat Scotland, Scottish Agricultural College and banking.

Jim McLaren - Chair of QMS in April 2011 and former NFU Scotland president from 2007 to 2011.

Lynn Mann - Co-owner of Supernature Oils and an Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland and on the Board of Interface.

Sarah Allison – Works with the Soil Association Scotland in 2017 and recently retired as chair of SAYFC Agri and Rural Affairs Committee.