Angus hill sheep farmer, Peter Myles, has been elected unopposed as the chair of NSA Scotland for the next two years, following its recent hybrid annual regional members meeting (ARMM) at Glensaugh, Laurencekirk.

Mr Myles took on the position of NSA Scotland's interim chair after Jen Craig resigned last year and paid tribute to her legacy when accepting the position. He said: “I would like to thank Jen for the hard work she has put in which has been of great benefit to the organisation and the Scottish sheep sector.

"I am honoured to take on the role of NSA Scottish Region chair and hope I can do the position justice. I would also like to sincerely thank those who have been committee members in the past who have stepped down from their positions for their hard work and welcome new committee members to NSA Scotland.”

Mary Dunlop, Biggar, was re-elected as treasurer unopposed and there were no nominations for vice-chair with the committee deciding to leave the position empty to encourage someone to come forward during the year. James Scott, Glendevon, was elected to sit on the NSA UK policy and technical committee and Peter Myles and newly-elected trustee Pamela Nicol, Glenisla, were approved as the trustees of the charity.

The ARMM confirmed there would be no NSA HighlandSheep event this year and it is to be replaced with a number of smaller on farm events through the summer and autumn months. It was also agreed that the NSA stand at the Royal Highland Show will remain next to the MacRobert Shearing Theatre, with plans well underway ahead of the Golden Shears competition.

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There was also an agreed plan to host another 'Lamb for St Andrew’s Day' dinner in November, with Carfraemill the current planned location following a successful dinner in 2022. The charity ended 2022 with an increase in membership, which was the highest regional growth in the UK seen from numbers in 2019.

The committee also noted that its financial situation was much improved following a successful NSA Scotsheep event in 2022 which brought in a considerable sum to keep the organisation running despite having to postpone the event from 2020. There was also agreement that the charity had increased the quantity of consultation responses through collaboration with other rural bodies to ensure the voice of the sheep sector was heard in Government.

National NSA chief executive, Phil Stocker, also presented Perthshire farmer Ian Duncan Miller with the George Hedley Memorial Award and then addressed the meeting with an update on the organisation’s work.

Mr Stocker who has been with the organisation for more than 10 years, explained how the charity in his time had managed to grow the staff numbers from four to 12 people, alongside improving and diversifying the charity’s income.

Annual NSA membership recruitment stands at approximately 400 new members per year which allowed the total membership to remain stable, despite membership suffering from retirement, or farmers passing away. It is continuing to work on joint research projects with the Moredun Institute, as well as key policy areas such as carcase splitting, species reintroduction, transport regulations and export barriers.