How wonderful it would be to wake up on Christmas morning and see that someone had posted a picture of Michael Gove, reindeer and all, outside Holyrood, handing over a cheque to the Scottish Government with the message: “Here is Scotland’s budget, fixed for the next five years. Now go and consult with the industry, make sure you use it wisely, and make it deliver what support funding is meant to do.”

Well, we would all jump for joy and the bun fighting (Johnny Hall of NFU Scotland’s wording) could start as all the organisations started fighting their own corner. Realistically, if we get to somewhere near this stage by the middle of the year it would be an achievement. It is much easier to imagine Michael Gove getting back on his sleigh and disappearing into the night saying: “Ho! Ho ! Ho!”.

To get any sort of confidence back in the industry we desperately need the politicians to put the politics aside and, just for once, do what everyone knows needs to happen. Encouragingly Westminster has indicated that Scotland is so diverse, the support system that suits the rest of the UK may not be best for Scotland. Hear hear to that. I have never heard so much doom and gloom as I have at meetings at the end of the year. I know the weather has put the boot in big time and a spring like last year could brighten up a few faces, but it generally shows things are at a low ebb. The current support system is not working and only benefiting the usual few.

Is it time to change and start being realistic? What is the point in sending money into areas that produce nothing? That does nothing for the rural economy. The Scottish government want 11m more trees planted. Surely it would make more sense for people to look at the excellent grants and payments that are available. It may not be what people want to do but it is surely hard to make an argument against it. It is past time that good, productive land stopped going under the plough. Who knows – this could come back to haunt Scotland in 30, 40 or 50 years’ time. Maybe less.

Beef production underpins everything in Scottish agriculture and contributes considerably more to the rural economy than any other sector, so we must be ready when the time arrives to take the opportunity to try and prevent the continued decline in cattle numbers. I do believe that there is a system that will work for Scotland, and I do believe, given the opportunity, we are capable of finding it. Just get the politics sorted, tell us what we have to work with, then stand back and watch the most resilient industry that Scotland has ever had deliver value.