Scottish Farmers Should Collaborate To Innovate

Shepherd and Wedderburn is the largest independent, Scottish-headquartered UK law firm. Our continued investment in our Aberdeen office and the growth of our team in the north east - not least the recent appointments of three private client specialists - underscore our confidence in the local economy and commitment to providing our clients with legal services of the highest quality, delivered by lawyers who are immersed in the local business community and understand its challenges.

Shepherd and Wedderburn recently celebrated its 250th Anniversary. To mark this milestone, we commissioned a report from the University of Strathclyde's Fraser of Allander Institute, Scotland in 2050: Realising our Global Potential, which was published earlier this year. To inform the report, we hosted a number of workshops for clients and contacts across Scotland, including in Aberdeen, to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face and the steps the country needs to take for us to realise our potential in a rapidly-evolving global economy. A number of common themes were identified at our Aberdeen workshops, which covered a wide variety of sectors including rural, oil and gas, clean energy and technology. These were around education, in particular the need for an appropriately skilled workforce equipped to seize the opportunities ahead, encouraging entrepreneurship and maintaining national and international levels of expertise across our key sectors.

Scotland is a rich and prosperous nation. We rank highly on indicators of economic prosperity and compare well with other advanced economies. We have the advantage, particularly in the north east, of substantial natural resources, a skilled workforce and key strengths in sectors such as food and drink, tourism, energy and financial and professional services. However, threats to our continued prosperity include climate change, the emergence of new economic powers and the rapid pace of technological change.

In respect of my own specialist area, the challenges facing the agricultural and rural sector in Scotland in the immediate future revolve around post-Brexit uncertainty. They include the nature and value of future agricultural support payments; potential labour shortages caused by the end of free movement of labour; future access to existing European markets; and the threat of food imports produced at lower standards than exist in the UK. Taken together, these factors lead to the inescapable conclusion...