The Business - 28/06/2009

Jamie McIvor presents a special edition of The Business live from the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston. This year's show is a flagship event in the Homecoming Scotland celebrations, designed to draw ex-pats back to Scotland and boost the tourism industry. As the four-day event draws to a close, show manager David Dunsmuir tells Jamie how successful that drive has been. Gillian Sharpe reports on how dairy farmers are struggling to cope with plummeting milk prices, prompting fears that many will abandon the business unless their fortunes change. She visits High Garphar farm in South Ayrshire to meet Robert Shearlaw, vice-chairman of the dairy farming co-operative, First Milk. Rural Affairs and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead tells Jamie what he intends to do to help farmers and explains the next steps in Scotland's first national food and drink policy. There's reaction from Bob Carruth of NFU Scotland and Ken Rundle of the Scottish Agricultural College. Plus, we hear how one group of beef farmers from Caithness are turning Japanese in an effort to tap into new markets for their products. John Sutherland, the managing director of Caithness Beef and Lamb, is among a group of innovative farmers starting to cross Aberdeen Angus with Japanese Wagyu cattle. He tells us why.