It is good to see Scottish Natural Heritage publishing its sea eagle report, where it admits birds are abducting healthy lambs. Up until now the organisation has been reluctant to pin lamb deaths on sea eagles, despite evidence from farmers.

I know some farmers and crofters say some areas of Skye have become impossible to farm, because of sea eagles killing so many lambs.

We need to understand that Scotland is a managed landscape, and we have an obligation to ensure a balanced ecosystem. This means we need to know how many eagles the farming industry, the economy and the ecosystem can sustain.

The Government should be careful not to be become to embroiled in the land sector or to over-legislate

After that, we need to put in place a control system and a compensation scheme to ensure everyone gets a fair chance of survival.

More new entrant land

It is clear that our farming minister, Fergus Ewing, is driven to get new people into the industry.

The Government is taking a hands-on approach by legislating the land reform bill and setting up short-term leases for new farmers on publicly owned land.

There are a further 2,800ha of public land available to farmers on short-term lets, which may offer some new farmers an opportunity.

However, the Government should be careful not to be become to embroiled in the land sector or to over-legislate. The land reform bill appears to be falling short of creating a vibrant and healthy tenancy sector, and farmers on short-term new entrant lets are worried there isn’t another farm to move onto.