Farming Footsteps

To mark our centenary, NFU Scotland wanted to do something special to show the pride we have in what our members are doing every day across Scotland.

In this short film we follow the footsteps of new generation member Iain Mackay of Mull who tells a familiar story; that of a young lad who grows up with one ambition - to be a farmer.

With grateful thanks to Martin Kennedy of Lurgan, Aberfeldy, who allowed us to film on his stunning farm.

Around 67,000 people are directly employed in agriculture in Scotland – this represents around 8% of the rural workforce and means that agriculture is the third largest employer in rural Scotland after the service and public sectors.  It is estimated that a further 360,000 jobs (1 in 10 of all Scottish jobs) are dependent on agriculture.

The agri-food sector is now the UKs largest manufacturing sector.

Around 85% of Scotland is classified as Less Favoured Area. This is an EU classification which recognises natural and geographic disadvantage.

There are large numbers of farms in north west Scotland, but these are significantly smaller in terms of the numbers of livestock/area of crops grown than farms elsewhere. Sheep farming is the predominant type of farming in the north west and there are also many sheep farms in the south of the country. Larger cereal farms are concentrated in the east. Beef farming takes place throughout Scotland, but is particularly common in the south west. This area also has the bulk of the dairy industry.   For more information about what we produce in Scotland, click here.