Momentum builds towards the EU referendum vote on 23 June as farming unions, leaders and ministers continue to put the nation's agricultural and food sectors at the heart of the debate.
The NFU Scotland's Vice President Andrew McCornick gave evidence at a meeting of Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee in Glasgow today (9 May) to discuss the forthcoming EU Referendum and its impact on Scotland.
Speaking after the evidence session, Mr McCornick said: "With debate on the referendum gathering pace, it is important that farming has a voice in any scrutiny given to the issue ahead of the vote on 23 June.
"Not only is it important to discuss the likely scenarios for agricultural sector should we leave the EU, but it is also relevant to consider what we can hope to achieve from the reform agenda for Europe.
"What might that reform agenda mean for the Common Agricultural Policy, if voters opt to stay ‘in’?
"NFU Scotland has said throughout the debate that, to date, the current balance remains in favour of staying in the EU and I made that point again today to the MPs.
"However, it is not for the Union to tell its members in any way how they should use their vote.
"It therefore becomes all the more important that key issues such as the future of agricultural support, access for Scottish produce to European markets, and the movement of labour are given prominence in the debate so that farmers and crofters can make an informed decision come referendum day.
"There will be a further opportunity for members to engage in the discussion on 19 May when NFU Scotland will be hosting the EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan for a debate on the referendum.
"A speaker from the Brexit side has yet to be confirmed but this event at the Highland Showground will be a useful platform to further tease out the pros and cons of EU membership."
'Long term prosperity of farming in the UK'
Last month, the NFU's ruling body backed a resolution concluding farmers’ interests are best served remaining in the EU, after a gruelling four hour debate.
Peter Kendall, former President of the NFU, said: "Britain's membership of the EU is essential for the farming and food industry so it is hugely significant that the NFU has today confirmed that it believes UK agriculture will have a more secure future within the EU.
"Being part of the single market - our home market of 500 million consumers - is crucial to the long term prosperity of farming in this country.
"We saw from the NFU's own report earlier this month that leaving the EU could hit our industry hard and their support today demonstrates that walking away puts too much at risk.
"Leaving the EU would make trading farm products significantly harder, financial support uncertain and leave farmers facing years of uncertainty.
"That is too much of a gamble and one our industry cannot afford to take.
"That is why I fully welcome the decision from the NFU who have made it clear that Britain's farmers are stronger, safer and better off in the EU."
Britain Stronger in Europe campaign
The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has thrown its weight behind the 'Britain Stronger in Europe' campaign as the first farming union in the UK to do so.
FUW says it will "continue to work with the campaign Board in Wales to ensure that Britain remains a member of the European Union."
"The Union sees this as the optimal way to protect our rural economies, especially when it comes to support from the Common Agricultural Policy, which flows to farms and then inevitably to many local businesses," said Union Managing Director Alan Davies.
"We are pleased to be an official partner of this campaign and will increase our efforts to make the argument to remain in the EU over the coming weeks.
"We are holding a number of EU debates over the coming weeks, details of which will be provided soon," added Mr Davies.
'UK government will give more to farmers' in the event of Brexit'
On the other side of the debate, Defra minister George Eustice has been a vocal supporter of a Brexit scenario. He said the UK government will give more to farmers than they do now in the event of Britain leaving the EU.
Eustice has drawn attention to non-EU nations like Switzerland and Norway and how their governments give more to farmers than the UK does.
"Where power has been ceded to the EU, we see inertia, inconsistency and indecision," the Farm minister said.
"The achievements we cherish most of all are those where we have secured opt-outs from EU initiatives."
Eustice said the UK gives money to the EU, which they convert into foreign currency creating unnecessary exchange rate risks.
"The system has been through various changes over the years but remains a centralised and bureaucratic policy.
"In its current form, it attempts to codify and regulate almost every conceivable feature of our landscape and almost every conceivable thing a farmer might want to do with their land."
He said some 80% of legislation affecting DEFRA comes directly from the EU.
"It is all pervasive: how many farm inspections there must be in a given year; what proportion of those inspections must be random; how much a farmer must be fined if they make a mistake; how much they should be fined if they make the same mistake twice; the precise dimensions of EU billboards and plaques that farmers are forced to put up by law; the maximum width of a gateway; how we define a hedge; whether a cabbage and a cauliflower are different crops or should be deemed the same crop. The list goes on forever and it's stifling."
