Sustainable farming at the RHS

2026 marked a first at the Royal Highland Show when a group of farming organisations under the Scottish Agroecology Partnership (SAP) banner hosted a new Sustainable Agriculture Tent.

The SAP – Nature Friendly Farming Network, Landworkers Alliance, Soil Association Scotland, Nourish Scotland, Pasture for Life, Propagate, Scottish Crofting Federation and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust – was formally launched at last year’s show and the partners have been collaborating for several years on farming programmes and policy.

This year, SAP came together to deliver a four-day programme of events, talks and workshops, showcasing some of the amazing work that is happening on farms and crofts around the country.

It was also the first RHS since the Scottish parliamentary elections, when the SNP were returned to power for a fifth consecutive term. As always, there was plenty of political discussion at the show, with a focus this year on proposals for price caps on essential food items.

Political points

The First Minister John Swinney addressed the Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) breakfast event on the Thursday morning, with a strong focus on economic growth and an invitation to the farming sector to collaborate on new policy. The SNP leader made clear he remains committed to capping prices at supermarkets but insisted that farmers would be protected from any attempt to pass on the costs to primary producers.

Mr Swinney also followed through on a manifesto pledge to create a new taskforce on public sector food procurement opportunities for Scottish producers. Soil Association Scotland has been taking part in roundtable discussions organised by NFU Scotland and the Public Sector Catering Alliance – and would welcome the chance to take part in the new group, which will be led by Agriculture, Marine and Islands Minister Jim Fairlie.

Back at the SAP tent, there was a healthy political debate on agricultural policy more broadly with a session including Scottish Conservative MSP for former Rural Affairs Committee convener Finlay Carson and Scottish Green MSP and rural affairs spokesperson Ariane Burgess. The discussion, well chaired by Ian Davis representing NFFN, covered a lot of ground, from the Rural Support Plan to Good Food Nation and the need for more local processing capacity.

We were joined by Mark Ruskell MSP, the new convener of the Rural Affairs Committee, to discuss priorities for the committee in the new parliamentary session.

And we were delighted to welcome the new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs Gillian Martin MSP – and Agriculture, Marine and Islands Minister Jim Farilie – to the SAP tent to present the ‘Sustainable Farming’ awards and hear from members of the different organisations, including information from Soil Association Scotland on the growth of the organic sector in recent years and the work of the Organic Action Plan.

Sharing best practice

On the second day, we ran a joint Soil Association Scotland/Woodland Trust Scotland panel session on the role of trees in building resilience on farms and crofts. Speakers were Matt Griffin, an upland farmer in the Borders, Till Aders, a crofter from the Isle of Mull, and Katharine Lowrie, a Woodland Trust advisor and a farmer practising agroforestry in her own right.

The session, chaired by Woodland Trust Director Alastair Seaman, delved into the detail of the subject, including a strong focus on the benefits and barriers to integrating trees on farms. It also presented another opportunity to highlight the policy work undertaken by Soil Association Scotland and Woodland Trust Scotland on payment options for low density agroforestry.

Professor Davy McCracken from Scotland’s Rural College then led a deep dive session on farm profitability, with a rejection of the often-repeated notion that 'you can’t go green if you are in the red'. The contributions from speakers Angus Walton from Peelham Farm in Berwickshire and Andrew Jamieson, an agricultural consultant based on the other side of the border, made it clear that adapting farming systems is now an economic, as well as environmental, necessity.

Other highlights

Elsewhere at the show, some highlights included a session hosted by the Rowett Institute on the Science of Food Security, which included calls for greater use of home-grown legumes to reduce reliance on imported feed for livestock and the opportunities presented by new crops like hemp which can bring multiple benefits and help boost resilience.

And the new Cabinet Secretary, appearing at the Scotland Food and Drink Net Zero Partnership reception to mark progress on the industry’s Climate Transition Plan, made a call to government, industry and academia to collectively 'put their shoulders to the wheel' on climate action, praising the many innovations from academic institutions and industry organisations.

And next year?

The emergence of a dedicated space at the RHS for sustainable farming felt significant. Organisations involved with the SAP have been working in this space for many years, decades in some cases, but it does feel that there is growing momentum behind nature friendly farming in Scotland. While policy development has been slow in comparison to other parts of the UK, the Scottish Government now has statutory targets for nature restoration as well as emissions reduction from agriculture and land use – and we feel that farmers, growers and crofters are already demonstrating what is possible, and what a sustainable future looks like.