Royal Highland Show: Humza Yousaf vows to work with farmers in response to concern over 'hardening' Scottish Green policies

The National Farmers Union Scotland (NFU Scotland) said certain wildlife and land management policies that have come in since the Bute House Agreement – a shared policy programme between the SNP and Scottish Greens – have significantly impacted farmers’ businesses and mental health.

Royal Highland Show: Farmers call for Scottish Government to control 'hardening' Green agenda

They claim “a hardening Green agenda” has given the industry “cause for serious concern not only for rural businesses but for the Scottish economy as a whole.”

Speaking at the Royal Highland Show on Friday, Humza Yousaf said Brexit and the UK’s restrictive immigration policy “has been a disaster for our farmers, for our agriculture sector.”

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In response to the sector’s concerns, he said: “I have said to NFU Scotland that I am willing to engage with them directly because I think it’s in all of our interest that we make sure we have a sustainable agriculture sector and a sustainable planet otherwise there will be no farming.

"They are very much signed up to that. Where they have concerns, let’s work through them together. There will be some things we agree on, some we won’t.”

One recent concern has been the Scottish Government’s decision to band the use of Asulox – a herbicide that has been used over the last decade to control bracken.

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It has been banned in the EU since 2011, and countries are required to request emergency authorisation to use it.

The UK Government has given the green light to farmers south of the border, but the First Minister said Scotland took scientific advice from the Health and Safety Executive, an independent expert in relation to pesticides, and the government’s chief scientist which he said claimed the risks of using Asulox outweigh the benefits.

Farmers are adamant controlling bracken, an ideal habitat for ticks, is important to prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease.

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They said aerial spreading of the chemical is the only way to access some hillside terrain that is too dangerous to access by vehicle until another solution is found.

They have also said it is a threat to biodiversity given its growth causes a “wasteland”, and build up of the weed creates extra fuel load for wildfires.

Mr Yousaf said: “There is no doubt the Asulox will help in those areas when it comes to ticks.

"But that benefit is not outweighed by the risk.”

He added: “We are looking at alternatives, and we are going to support as much as we can further research into those alternatives.”

Other concerns from the farming sector include the growing numbers of the reintroduced beavers and sea eagles which have led to farmers paying “tens of thousands of pounds” in dealing with damages to their crops and livestock, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said.

The First Minister’s visit to the show centres on the launch of a new food and drink strategy, which has £5 million of Scottish Government funding, for the country’s sector to “grow faster than similarly sized competitors, such as Ireland and Norway.”