Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Farming industry taking stock of coronavirus as events cancelled

NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick.
NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick.

Farming and rural organisations have begun cancelling events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick has asked the union’s membership not to hold any meetings or gatherings until further notice.

“This is not an easy step to take as government guidelines are not at this level yet,” he said.

“However, this decision will allow us to take stock and behave responsibly for both our members and staff.”

He said the union was also considering whether to go ahead with a series of events on May 23 to celebrate Scottish food and farming.

“We, as a union and as individuals, have a duty of care for each other and this cannot be lost in these unusual and exceptional circumstances,” he added.

“As every sector of society puts plans in place to mitigate the impact of the disease, the farming fraternity must act responsibly when it comes to limiting the spread of this virus.”

Meanwhile, organisers of the biggest agricultural event in Scotland – the Royal Highland Show, which attracts almost 200,000 visitors over four days in June – say it is going ahead but they are monitoring the situation.

A spokeswoman for organisers the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), said: “RHASS is working alongside our partners and government agencies to look at if we can safely deliver the Royal Highland Show in 2020.

“This is a fluid and dynamic position, and decisions relating to the event will always be governed by official policy and guidance.

“We will continue to take advice from the government and public health advisers and will provide regular updates as the situation develops.”

A host of events have already been postponed including the Association of Deer Management Groups’ annual general meeting, which was due to take place in Inverness on Wednesday, and the Scottish Rural Awards.

The awards were scheduled to take place on April 2 in Glasgow.