The charity, which is dedicated to the relief of hardship and poverty amongst people who have depended for their livelihoods on the land, was gifted the estate by Ms Erskine of Marykirk with her wish to help the farming community.

The estate includes Forebank of Canterland Farm.

David Leggat, chairman of RSABI, said: “We’re all very moved by Sheila’s generosity and her choice to help RSABI support people in Scottish agriculture with this legacy.

“This amazing gift not only gives the charity financial security for a number of years, it will also enable us to support more people. We’re always looking at ways to improve our services and these funds will help us do even more on this.”

Mr Leggat said RSABI intends to invest the majority of the legacy funds to provide annual income for many years to come, and to use some of it to develop ways of raising awareness of RSABI’s services to more people. It also plans to allocate some of the funds to its crisis fund, to enable it to quickly ramp up support to the industry in the case of future crises.

Harry Seran, RSABI finance manager and company secretary, added that the charity spends around £1m every year to provide a “much-needed and effective service” for hundreds of people who are really struggling in the Scottish farming sector.

He said: “After the turmoil of 2020 we’ve seen a reduction in our annual investment income of around £86,000, with no sign of recovery for the 2021 financial year.

“Dividends from the investment of this legacy will be an important source of income for the charity in the years to come.”

Nina Clancy, RSABI chief executive, commented: “This legacy will not only benefit the agricultural community now, but for many years to come and for that we are all incredibly grateful.”

She said the charity will still need support from those in the agricultural sector through donations, fundraisers, and people and businesses signing up to its supporters scheme.