Future of Scottish farming must lie in Scotland's hands

Voting SNP on May 6 will protect Scottish farming and food production and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands - not Boris Johnson’s.

Our absolute priority will be keeping people on the land - sustainably.

The SNP remains committed to supporting active farming and food production with direct payments, as well as moving towards conditional support so farmers produce more of our own food needs sustainably, and with nature. We will establish a single implementation board with representation from all farming sectors to drive forward recommendations of farmer-led groups.

Scotland is well placed to become world-leading in low carbon farming opportunities - so we will support the development of low carbon, vertical farms and double the amount of land for organic farming. We will reform urea fertiliser use to minimise it, as well as encourage more conversion of slurry into biofuel - and we will do it in a way that is practicable and affordable.

We will promote the use of suitable methane inhibitors, particularly those which harness natural resources and enhance support for food processing and manufacturing to develop local supply chains.

Provenance increasingly matters to consumers. That is why the SNP will adopt the highest possible animal welfare standards and, while we will ban live exports of animals for fattening and slaughter, we will ensure live transport of livestock between the islands and mainland continues. We want more people at home and overseas to enjoy Scottish produce.

Our local food strategy will support the growth of local food markets and pop-ups. We will ensure breakfast, out of school and holiday clubs provide local healthy produce, work with retailers to offer more Scottish produce, and develop a fully funded free school milk scheme.

We want farming to flourish in the future, which is why we will provide more support for women, new and young entrants, seek to remove barriers to tenant farming, create more active crofts, and develop a growth strategy for agri and food tourism.

We will also further promote efficiency innovation and development in farming practices and work to apply an enabling approach to planning to help farm diversification.

The SNP keeps its promises. We said we would fix the CAP payments system – we have, and this year payments were made at the earliest ever date. We campaigned to repatriate the red meat levy – we made that happen and now an extra £1.5m is available annually to promote Scottish quality red meat. We fought to right the historic wrong on convergence funding – and won. We promised to deliver every penny of that to farmers and crofters – we did.

In stark contrast, Boris Johnson pledged to deliver on the Bew review, yet at the first opportunity, the Tories reneged on that – along with other Brexit promises - leaving us with a funding blackhole of £170m over the next five years.

The Tories said Brexit wouldn't cause trade barriers, but we can no longer export sheep to Northern Ireland, seed potatoes to the EU and meat and dairy exports are being crippled by bureaucracy.

On top of this, they have given themselves the powers via the power-grabbing Internal Market Act that could prevent Scotland funding or supporting farming in a way that best suits our needs and interests. That's why Scotland's future must be in Scotland's hands.

Trade across the UK matters but so does trade with the EU. The SNP is now the only party offering a route back to the Single Market and Freedom of Movement.

Our record shows we will always stand up for Scotland’s rural and island communities and interests. If re-elected, the SNP will keep doing what we have always done – championing Scotland’s agricultural industry and the thousands of jobs it supports in the rural economy.