Exports are food and drink to farmers agriculture is the driving engine behind Scotland's increasing production of food and drink, it was claimed this week. And, after making the claim, the chairman and the chief executive of Scotland Food and Drink, the independent promotional organisation behind food production in this country, added that farmers can continue to stoke this industry to their own benefit. Chairman Ray Jones, a former chief executive of the Royal Highland Society, and chief executive James Withers, previously chief executive of NFU Scotland, know the farming industry well and both said farmers had a "huge cause to be optimistic for the future as demand for Scottish food and drink continued to soar." Jones added: "A foundation of the sector's success is farming. We need a profitable farming sector, focused on the quality end of the market, because the world is increasingly on the look-out for Scottish food and drink. Whisky has developed its global reputation over a century, and now we are seeing huge growth for food exports too. Demand for red meat and dairy, in particular, continues to grow and, with investment and support at the farm gate, I believe the future is as bright for farmers as it has been for a generation. However, the experience of both Jones and Withers did not blind them to the fact that farmers faced their own problems, with increasing costs in all the main inputs - animal feed, fertiliser and fuel - all squeezing margins. Despite this handicap, they believed the Scottish food production could still prosper and expand as there was now a worldwide knowledge of the provenance and quality of food produced in this country. For those that believe Scotland was already punching well above its weight in the world food market, they pointed out that other small countries such as Ireland, New Zealand and Denmark exported a far greater percentage of their food production. Sales of Scottish food and drink brands within the UK have risen by 35 per cent since 2007 and exports have grown by a massive 62 per cent over the past four years and they pointed out that food and drink sales showed a healthier growth than any other industry. Jones also rejected any suggestion that the massive increase in exports was due to favourable currency swings, saying that previous periods when the pound/euro and the pound/dollar ratio was similar to today, exports had not surged. He added: "We are witnessing growth in Scotland's food and drink industry not seen before. Our reputation as a land of food and drink is growing year on year and we are developing new markets for premium products.