Growers were urged to get actively involved in sustainability rather than suffer the law of unintended consequences by Scottish Agronomy chair, Jim Mason, at the co-operative’s annual technical conference this week.

In the company of speakers from Government, trade and farming, Mr Mason said 'growing greener' was the inevitable direction of travel and farmers needed to engage sooner rather than later.

“It’s so vitally important as farmers that we get actively involved in discussions in how we evolve this idea of sustainability otherwise, even if the intention is right, we could be taken down a route by others that undermines the future of our industry," he said.

"Every enterprise is different and the key message from all of our speakers is to do what is right for you and your farm, but the important thing is to start doing it.”

John Stirling, sharing his experience growing for the vodka, gin and whisky distillery he runs with his two brothers at Arbikie Highland Estate, near Montrose, echoed the sentiment and said farmers needed to make 'sustainability' pay.

“If you think it’s bad now having to make certain changes on the farm, it’s going to get much, much worse," he pointed out.

"But if we look again, there’s massive opportunity in Scotland because of our climate and the land we have, to go out to the market and add value to our crops and make a better standard of living on the farm.

"The economy used to be all cash, but it’s now about sustainability and long-term profitability, which is what farming has always been about, and big business is looking to pay a premium for it.”

In the last five years, the Stirling brothers had focused on growing heritage varieties that differentiate in flavour and profile which, combined with the sustainability story, had improved the price they can command from customers across the world. They were now growing peas and beans to make the world’s first climate positive gin, Nadar.

John said there was no place or need for 'greenwashing' in the industry, but by thinking slightly outside the box, it was possible to adapt practices that do something different for the rotation and the land and also achieve a premium. “It’s not all about being fantastic to the environment – everything we do has a commercial reality,” he told the meeting.

On working with Scottish Agronomy to grow the heritage barley varieties so intrinsic to the Arbikie line of spirits, he said: “We’ve worked with Scottish Agronomy for as long as I can remember and when we started to look at the distillery, it was a natural extension to discuss how we were growing, how to be more sustainable, because that’s our market, that’s where we are going to make the premium.

"We asked a lot of questions, we took a lot of advice and Scottish Agronomy helped us in the multiplication up of the heritage varieties. Without them and the help of other outside people, we would never have managed to do what we do,” he added.

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Director of technical and sustainability of malting business, Muntons, Dr Nigel Davies, illustrated how maltsters were working with the supply chain to reduce environmental impact and the value of insetting – reducing carbon within the industry – rather than offsetting, ie paying others to do it for you. “Offsetting should be the last resort, once you’ve done everything else you can,” he argued.

Speaking via video link, Lorna Slater, minister for green skills, circular economy, biodiversity and plant health, outlined the Scottish Government’s commitment to support carbon audits, soil analysis and upskilling the sector in environmental practice.

As part of the £26m programme with NatureScot, government will be supporting more targeted use of chemicals and greater use of IPM, while converting a fifth of Scotland’s productive land into organic, the merits of which were queried by some in the audience.

Professor Gerry Saddler, speaking in his role of Scotland’s chief plant health officer, encouraged growers to engage with ministers: “Scottish Government is very interested in the views of farmers and listens to them through various routes including groups such as NFUS and Scottish Agronomy.

"By engaging with ministers, inviting them to your annual conference, that is a positive way for the industry to get points across. I absolutely guarantee that ministers listen and they view the work we are doing in government as in partnership with the industry.”