Much too much energy is being spent on all the political point scoring over who is building a plan and who is not, over a budget which has yet to materialise for the future. But rather than being drawn into more conjecture, I thought as it is Royal Highland Show week it might be more productive to talk up some of the sectors Scotland has a major role to play in, and which reflect the big picture and landscape we have to project.

As part of the NCRA discussions we have been grappling on the value and breadth of the rural economy and its emerging status in the Scottish agenda and recognition of its output as an innovative and entrepreneurial part of the Scottish economy.

I had been thinking of writing about two periphery areas as examples of the versatility of Scottish agriculture, daffodils and wool, until I saw the FJ update on the latest wool sale, but given the positive performance, the premise remains.

Scotland’s soft fruits and flowers

The arrival of Scottish strawberries is always greeted with a flurry of coverage and the retailers coveting who fills their shelves first. This season usually follows the last of the daffodils at the beginning of May, but this is not a crop everyday consumers generally think springs from Scotland – another of our best-kept secrets.

One of our biggest cooperatives in this sector, Grampian Growers – one of the largest bulb growers and exporters in the UK – has just seen delivered around £2m of flower business from 1,300 acres of daffodil bulbs across the northeast.

The cooperative managed to deliver 5m bunches to the market this year. However, Easter often dictates if the lion’s share goes to export with higher margins or, as was the case this year, where a very early Easter and late winter resulted in the vast percentage of our flowers heading to the UK retailers.

The downside to the picturesque industry is that the picking cost has surged 30%, yet the retail position remains stable, a story synonymous with many sectors. The current stories emerging from Germany of soft fruits rotting in fields, because there is no willing labour force to pick them, should be a sobering warning shot for us.

The bulbs coming from our high-grade soils can often be more valuable than the flowers, with 4,000 tonnes of bulbs being exported annually to the US or EU. The flower sector like many others is facing decreasing margins, and has the added hurdle of deeper set-up costs because of the long wait into the second year for the first harvest. But the end product remains desirable because of its access position and seasonal head-start, we just need to edge the consumer into new retail territory.

The wool market

The sheep sector is and has been generally beleaguered by negative star gazing, however its fleece is bucking the trend.

The British Wool Marketing Board ships a third of its output to China and 48% to Europe, and there has been a steady volume growing since 2010. The vast range of breeds across the UK have resulted in this cooperative being prized for the grading and detailed output on fineness, colour quality, veg matter and yield.

Who would have thought our complexity in breed might add value, credibility and a 5% premium, versus some of bigger sheep traders like Oz or New Zealand.

The fact remains, however, that synthetic fibres rule the rails and wool holds on to 4% of the fibre market in the UK, dropping in volume from 53m kilogrammes annually, to 30m.

But every fleece now has a silver lining and what we do have is profitable and desirable added value – which there is a demand for. My reliable knitting source in the Northern Isles tells me that there is significant growth in the hobby and the knitting connoisseurs are seeking out more and more the yarns of provenance and character.

Knitters who know their wool

Just as wine drinkers look for different wines to taste and pay more attention to what it is and where it came from than previously, now many knitters are searching for authentic yarns from defined breeds without the prejudice of commodity buying.

Our predilection for a wide diversity of some 60 breeds might not be a weakness, as often cited, but when properly cleaned and graded, becomes a really desirable commodity versus the limited breed varieties of four in New Zealand. The future will yet determine if this trend reverses somewhat – I would not be surprised!

In effect, knitters are doing more to safeguard native sheep breeds than any other impacting factor, and not only the animals, but their ancient colour types. After all, white sheep exist to please manufacturers, not the sheep

If the black market in suitcases leaving the wool festival in Arran or the Edinburgh Yarn Festival with cherished balls of Shetland organic wool and others are anything to go on, the future for this premium product looks promising.

What both sectors reveal is that our land has the ability to produce some very desirable commodities, delivering versatility and ingenuity from our primary sector. It is this economic value that needs to be measured and prized, as farmers are at the heart of a plethora of these micro industries.