With less than a month to go until Scotland votes to determine whether the country remains part of the union, campaigns for and against independence have both enlisted the help of former farming leaders to spread their message in rural Scotland.

Although polling has so far shown that farmers in Scotland tend to oppose independence, citing concerns over the timeframe for entry into the EU and use of sterling in an independent Scotland, the pro-independence Yes campaign gained the support of four former NFU Scotland presidents last week. The former leaders gathered to give a press conference at the campaign's office in Glasgow on Wednesday 13^th August.

The union itself has remained neutral in the run up to the vote next month, but on Monday several more former presidents gave their backing to the Better Together campaign.  

Last week, John Ross, Jim Walker, John Kinnaird and John Cameron all said farmers would do better under an independent Scottish government than by Westminster, which they criticised as "Remote, out-of-touch and unsupportive."

However, on Wednesday six former NFUS presidents said that farmers would benefit from the UK's comparatively light touch to regulation, including "the movement of livestock [which] has as few burdens as possible," meaning the Scottish "agricultural sector is better placed to thrive as part of the UK." They also said that "extensive form-filling and red-tape" would become necessary for trade between England and Scotland post-independence.

The former presidents claimed that independence would put Scottish producers in direct competition with those from the remaining UK regions.   

Around 65,000 people are directly employed in agriculture in Scotland – accounting for 2.7 percent of Scotland's jobs – and a further 250,000 people are supported by the sector.

Former President Ian Grant, one of the six, said on Monday, "I'm sure I speak for the majority of rural leaders who believe we have the best of both worlds with all aspects of agricultural policy decided here in Scotland but still enjoying the benefits of sharing the risks, a large home market and the power and influence of the UK on the world stage."

Grant added that "Currency is of key importance to farm businesses as the prices [farmers] receive and the CAP support they enjoy are determined by the exchange rate and therefore the failure to spell out an alternative leaves them completely in the dark. The Yes campaign has made many promises of higher public spending and greater wealth redistribution but there's no explanation of how they will be paid for."

However, John Ross, a livestock farmer for over 50 years and president of NFUS during the 1990s, said that "A No vote will mean years of uncertainty about a UK government's EU membership and commitment and this will have very serious consequences for the future of Scottish farming."

Jim Walker, NFUS president from 1998 to 2003, added that "We know from the decisions the Treasury has consistently taken over the last 20 years, irrespective of the party in power, it will prioritise cutting expenditure on food, farming and rural development rather than encouraging investment. That has been the pattern for years and won't change now.

"Independence, on the other hand, will allow us to really back our food and farming sector, set our own priorities and sit at the European negotiating table, no longer affected by the UK Treasury indifference," Walker said.

The first former farming leader to make his voting intentions public was Lib Dem MSP, George Lyon, who has taken a leading role in the 'Rural Better Together'.