SCOTLAND’S ENVIRONMENT minister Mike Russell spoke yesterday about his vision of the rural areas as a “landscape with people,” writes farming editor Ewan Pate.

Mr Russell told the annual meeting of the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA) in Edinburgh yesterday that after a year in post he had come to realise that the job was really about people first and foremost rather than just the environment.

He spoke at length about building new partnerships, different interest groups working together and inspiring greater confidence.

Mr Russell, who is regarded as one of the best communicators of the Scottish Government, speaks clearly and with conviction.

His 60-strong audience, made up predominantly of landowners, may not have agreed with everything he said, but he was given a warm reception.

The fascination with the new government seems to have developed into a relatively cordial rapport.

The one area where there is still an element of mistrust is on the matter of tenancies and tenants’ right to buy.

Mr Russell and SNP colleagues were keen to push the concept and to see it incorporated in the land reform legislation passed in 2003.

Landowners have since been very reluctant to create any new tenancies of any sort.

“Restoring confidence in letting land is important,” said Mr Russell. “I impress on you to take the long view and I hope we can persuade you to do so.

“I have also spoken to the Scottish Tenant Farmers’ Association and have been impressed by their commitment and I would like to see it rewarded.

“As to why new entrants find it so difficult, I will reserve comment until the Tenant Farming Forum (TFF) reports next week. Although we have introduced measures to pay £10 million to a new entrants’ scheme, finance is not the only issue.

“I realise that you as landowners have to have the confidence to let land.

“There has been a raft of new legislation and I know you feel let down but I do want to ensure a stable environment which will underpin mixed ownership, with communities, owners and tenants all playing a part.”

Mr Russell’s support for the farming industry was unequivocal and showed a discord with recent statements from Westminster, particularly from Chancellor Alistair Darling who argued this week for a reduced Common Agricultural Policy as a means to fight food inflation.

Mr Russell said, “Primary producers of all kinds are central to the rural economy. Agricultural incomes are affected by world markets and the long-term outlook is good, but rising costs are having an effect and prices need to rise further to protect the farming economy.”

He pointed to the new £1.6 billion Scottish Rural Development Plan (SRDP) as a sign of government commitment which shouldn’t be “looked down on.”

However, he was taken to task by Peter Erskine, Cambo, Kingsbarns, who accused him of using “honeyed words” to conceal the fact that business development funds, particularly for farm diversification, were hard to access.

“I fear that local authorities and various quangos will grab most of the money,” said Mr Erskine.

“I worry that our modulated money from Single Farm Payments will be moved to fund local authorities.”

Mr Russell, somewhat taken aback at the thought of funds not being accessible, said, “We must have support for farm diversity.

“At the Highland Show we will be announcing further progress in the process of improving the delivery of services.”

There was further controversy on the introduction of GM crops and access to imported GM feeds.

John Don, Freefield, Insch, Aberdeenshire, said, “If Scottish farmers are to remain competitive they will need access to GM technology.

“Are you going to support scientific research and also convince consumers that this is a sensible and safe development?”

The minister, who is a well-known opponent of GM cropping, replied, “I disagree entirely. The precautionary principle must apply and we do not as yet know enough about GM.

“In Scotland we need to have quality right at the very top of everything we produce.

“We cannot compete on price, so we sell quality and that is based on a clean environment which we cannot put at risk. We require more proof.”

There was also pressure from the floor concerning the lack of funding for the proposed core path network and again Mr Russell was robust, saying, “I pay tribute to those who have worked hard to plan these paths but I cannot give assurances and I am sorry to say I cannot give cash to match.”