Scotland is a wee country that has always punched above its weight in agricultural innovation. Some of the best crop management practices and livestock husbandry methods that came out of the Victorian and pre-Victorian era remain the foundations of many farming systems here and across the world.

We still have some ‘key influencers’ innovating on Scottish farms, taking fresh thinking and new technology to new levels. We have world class research facilities at the likes of the John Hutton Institute and SRUC, and yet we are in danger of being left behind on a technological level at the proverbial train station, while other countries leave on a fast-track to more productive agriculture now that they have had the blindfold removed by the harsh lessons coming out of war.

In the EU, it is now almost certain that legislators will grasp the nettle and research thoroughly and potentially embrace any proven benefits of gene editing.

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The ‘greening’ of agriculture is a cornerstone of the Scottish administration’s ambitions. Why, then, stand sheepishly at the back while others are taking up the challenge of innovation. Lower chemical use, less reliance on manufactured fertilisers and crops that can withstand pestilence and drought…what’s not to like?

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