The first-ever Scottish Agriculture Awards were held to recognise and applaud the pioneering and forward-thinking agricultural enterprises and individuals in the industry

The first award of the night was a surprise announcement as former Scottish Farmer editor, Ken Fletcher was given the Lifetime Achievement Award. He said: “It’s taken a lifetime to get this far – but 46 years at the Scottish Farmer would be nothing without the people that have worked for us over the years, and there can be maybe hundreds of them, and this is as much for them as it is for me.

Turning to the Awards themselves he said: “It’s a big thing for the industry because we have to take stock of where we are and what we want to achieve over the next few years. I think this industry is worth shouting about. We should stand up and shout about it from the top of the trees.

Attending everything from the Appin Show on the West Coast to the Royal Highland Show – the pinnacle of agriculture in Scotland and meeting farmers on their home ground – what’s not to like about that? Because all this journalism gets the truth to the people who need to know.

“And we work for a business-to-business magazine and therefore what we say should be the truth and it didn’t earn the name of the ‘farmer’s bible’ for nothing. Whether you’re a farmer or whether you’re not a farmer, whatever you go to buy in your local supermarket is probably produced by a farmer. Whether it’s local or not, that’s another thing. If you go to your local butcher, it’s more likely to be local, and that’s what I would say – that’s the message, it’s buy local.”