There were no roaring wild beasts at the Royal Highland Society’s opening day at Ingliston Showground outside Edinburgh. Instead there was a wonderful displays of Clydesdale dray horses and brightly painted carts, and an array of prize-winning Black face and Cheviot sheep, Belted Galloway, Highland and Aberdeen Angus beef cattle among the multifarious livestock which delighted an enthusiastic crowd.
The preparation and massive endeavour of the early-rising agricultural community from all corners of Scotland and as far north as Shetland is a tribute to this essential Scottish way of life.
On a wonderfully warm Scottish summer’s day, with 55,000 society members and visitors soaking up the sunshine, Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray (pictured below) entered his own lion’s den where there is still massive grievance in rural communities about the Labour Government’s attack on farmers.
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray speaking at the Royal Highland Show
The agriculture community is still smarting at the inheritance tax rises and are in discussions with HM Treasury in London. The National Farmers’ Union is urging a more nuanced tax regimen, rather than an inheritance tax rises which will clobber legitimate farming dynasties wishing to pass on farm land to family members.
But Mr Murray conceded that the Prime Minister is unlikely to be urging the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to do a U-turn, but understood the issue was having a national impact North of the Border.
“The Treasury is clear it is working as whole to make the whole inheritance tax issue fairer. There are still big concessions in there, including the ten-year interest rate payments,” he said.
He said taxation decision which have been put in place by Labour were essential to stabilise the UK economy and allow new trade deals to be signed and put in place.
“Without the Chancellor making these really difficult choices back in October last year we wouldn’t be having discussions today about trade deals, about investment in the economy and supporting the farming and agriculture sector.”
Mr Murray was questioned by a Scottish farming journalist about the Labour government’s poor relationship with the nation’s farmers.
“It’s not all been bad news. I’ve been speaking to the President of the National Farmers’ Union Scotland on a host of issues, and we’ve been talking about the European and United States trade deals, which are the top of the agenda. We’re also discussing immigration for farm workers which involves the Home Office.”
He admitted there were disagreements over the tax issue.
“We have two different perspectives on that. But we will continue to talk. I had a really constructive meeting for about 40 minutes. There are a lot of opportunities that we want to help farmers with,” he said.
The US trade deal comes as the national climate change committee argued that there should be a decrease in livestock numbers across the UK. Mr Murray was asked if cutting back on home-bred beef would end up with shortfalls being filled by imported American beef.
“The trade deal we’ve done is two-fold. One is, it allows a restriction which will open up the whole American market to Scottish beef producers, which is the highest quality meat in the whole world. And there will be restrictions coming back into the US as well.”
He said the deals would not have happened if there was any deterioration in the highest standards of British and Scottish beef. In one way, we are sending really high quality beef, which is what people are after, and the other ways we are protected by very high UK food standards. This is really great news for Scottish producers,” he stated.
He said the industry must capitalise on this market opportunity.
Robert Gilchrist, Chief Executive Officer of the Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society speaking to The Business, said: “I stand with a foot in both camps. I stand with one eye on the potential opportunities of a market that is high value and is looking for a premium quality product such as Aberdeen Angus beef, which fits the bill everyday of the week. But, on the other hand, I have a fear of the displacement effect domestically and what are the knock-on effects to the trade.”
He explained America is a big importer of premium beef because they have beef cattle which are typically fatter and they want to bring in much leaner beef to water it down for the ground-beef market.
“There could be export opportunities on the lower end cuts as well. There is so much that remains to be seen.”
The UK Aberdeen Angus Society has around 2,000 members, across Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with 15,000 registered pedigree animals in 2024. In the UK, around 520,000 Aberdeen Angus cattle are born each year. This year is the 150th annual Aberdeen Angus herd book which is printed tome of the whole breed.
The Royal Highland Show 2025, Scotland biggest outdoor event, with a range of sections supporting Scotland’s finest food and drink, agriculture products, country lifestyle, crafts and health, and motors, tractors and farm machinery. The show runs until Sunday, with special Lothian Region bus services from central Edinburgh.
