At her speech at the NFU Scotland AGM, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised to rebuild relationships with farmers, which were damaged after the delayed support payments from 2015 BPS claims. IACS forms submitted in May 2015 were paid on for the bulk of farmers until spring the following year, with many left until summer 2016 before receiving their full amount.

She stated that issues with payments were completely unacceptable.

Directly addressing the conference, she said: “I want to assure all of you today that lessons have been learned.”

Then going on to say: “We understand the difficulties that late payments caused to you last year. We apologise for those difficulties. We are determined not to repeat them.”

This was an expensive lesson with the computer system, costing £180m – which equates to around £10,000 per farmer paid for the first payment run.

Free trade for the future of the sector

Claims made last year have been much more timeously, with most paid in December due to the Scottish government taking advantage of advanced loan payments.

When pressed, she would not rule out using loans again but believed that would not be necessary due to a better working computer system.

She touched on the impact of Brexit, stating that it presents the biggest challenge to farming in Scotland for a generation. She highlighted massive concerns about high tariffs and quotas potentially blocking beef and lamb into the EU.

She also stated there are fears that new imports into the UK of lower-quality produce could compromise the high standards currently being upheld.

She called for a free trade agreement with the EU on beef, lamb, cereals and vegetables. Which, she feels, would be the best way to ensure the future of Scotland’s quality produce sector.

Listen to an interview with NFU Scotland's new president Andrew McCornick in our podcast below:

Listen to "New president of NFU Scotland" on Spreaker.