As we head towards the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, it’s clear that farming, crofting and rural Scotland are back on the political agenda.
That’s a good thing.
Across the party manifestos, there is recognition of the role farmers and crofters play - producing food, supporting the economy, delivering for the environment and sustaining rural communities. For too long, that hasn’t always been the case.
But let’s be honest, recognition is the easy part.
What really matters now is what comes next. The detail. The direction. And ultimately, whether any of this actually works on the ground.
Because from where I stand, there is still a gap between what’s being promised and what’s being delivered.
That’s exactly why engagement in the coming weeks matters.
On 28 April, we will bring all of Scotland’s main political parties together for NFU Scotland’s national election hustings - giving them the opportunity to set out clearly how they will deliver for farming, crofting and rural Scotland, and to answer directly to those whose businesses depend on getting this right.
But we’re not waiting until then.
In the lead-up, we’ve secured video messages from each of the six main party leaders, setting out their priorities for the sector. We’ll be sharing a new one each day across our social channels, giving our members and the wider public a clear view of where each party stands.
Because this election cannot just be about broad ambition. It has to be about accountability.
A lot of the language across the manifestos talks about economic growth and resilience. And rightly so. But if that’s the ambition, then farming and crofting need to be front and centre of it.
We are not a side issue.
We underpin a £19 billion food and drink sector, support around 130,000 jobs, and keep rural Scotland alive. More than that, we are producing high-quality food to some of the highest standards anywhere in the world.
But we do it in a challenging environment - volatile markets, rising costs, and long-term investment decisions that don’t fit neatly into political cycles.
So if politicians are serious about growth, they need to be serious about confidence. And that means clear policy, proper support and long-term certainty.
On the environment, there’s no shortage of ambition. And again, that’s welcome.
Farmers and crofters are already stepping up. We are part of the solution when it comes to climate, nature and sustainable land use. We’ve said that consistently, and we’ll keep saying it.
But there’s a line that cannot be crossed.
You cannot deliver environmental ambition by undermining food production or the viability of the very businesses expected to deliver it.
Get that balance wrong, and everything else falls apart.
That’s the question every party now needs to answer: how do you deliver both?
Because without profitable farms and crofts, there is no transition. No investment. No progress.
Land use is another area where, frankly, we’ve heard it all before.
There’s a lot of talk about “joined-up thinking” and “integrated approaches” - but very little clarity on how that actually works in practice.
Farmers are being asked to juggle food production, climate targets, biodiversity, renewables, all at once. That’s the reality.
But without a clear framework, that creates uncertainty. And uncertainty kills confidence.
We’ve debated land use in Scotland for years. What we need now is action - a practical, coherent plan that recognises food production as a priority, while delivering for the environment and rural communities.
And crucially, one that is developed with the people who actually manage the land.
Alongside all of this, some very real, immediate pressures can’t be ignored.
Fairness in the supply chain is one of them.
Farmers and crofters must get a fair return for what they produce. It’s as simple as that. Because if they don’t, all the talk about sustainability, resilience and food security means very little.
And that also means being very careful about how we intervene in the market. Keeping food affordable matters, but it must not come at the expense of Scotland’s food producers or our long-term food security. Get that wrong, and we risk undermining the very system we all rely on.
Equally, rural infrastructure - housing, connectivity, services - continues to hold communities back. In many parts of Scotland, those issues are just as important as agricultural policy.
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Step back and look at the bigger picture, and the problem isn’t a lack of interest in rural Scotland.
It’s a lack of joined-up thinking.
Too often, agriculture, environment, land use and rural development are treated as separate issues. They’re not. They are completely interconnected, and policy needs to reflect that.
The next Parliament will bring change. New Ministers. New MSPs. New committees.
Many of them won’t have first-hand experience of farming or crofting. That’s just a reality.
At the same time, the industry is under real pressure - costs rising, markets volatile, regulation increasing, and too much uncertainty around future support.
So engagement will be critical.
We will work constructively with whoever forms the next government. That’s how we get things done.
But we will also be clear, and we will be firm.
Because this matters.
A profitable, productive and sustainable agricultural sector is not optional. It is essential, to food security, to the rural economy and to Scotland’s environmental ambitions.
The manifestos are a starting point.
The real test is what happens next.
And you can be sure of this, we will be making sure the voice of farmers and crofters is heard loud and clear.