Review: SAC OUTLOOK Conference:
"Benefiting from Change"

Ross Finnie,
Minister for Rural Affairs and Environment, Scottish Parliament
Reading a prepared speech when opening the conference
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

Douglas Bell

The purpose of the talk given by Douglas Bell of SAC Farm Business Services was to illustrate the impact of the reformed CAP on a typical Scottish hill farm with cattle, sheep and some arable. Although again delivered in an upbeat style the underlying message was grim.

Douglas Bell, Farm Business Services, SAC
Painted an overly optimistic scenario for the finances of a
typical Scottish Hill Farm following decoupling
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

One of the weaknesses of his theme was his description of 2004 as being "quite a good year" for his hypothetical hill farm. But in fact the earnings for husband, wife and son were decidedly poor in relation to what virtually anyone else in Scotland who had a modicum of skills would expect to earn while working a 35 hour week and receiving numerous employment benefits.

Also he made assumptions that were likely to be over-optimistic with regard to the euro exchange rate and what price the farm might get for its finished cattle and sheep, or indeed for its grain. The books were kept looking reasonable by scratching around looking for "environmental" projects that could attract subsidy and by laying off the son from employment on the farm.

Although cheerfully presented, what he painted was not in reality a happy economic picture.

Helen Browning

Here was a lady of great initiative and drive who had made a success at East Wood Farm, Wiltshire in finding a niche market based on "organic" products (18). She claimed that she did not always follow conventional advice of business advisers.

There can be little doubt that Helen Browning would succeed in any branch of business in which she was interested. In terms of Jim Wildgoose's comments, she would surely come within the top 5% of the UK's leading entrepreneurs. Presumably the message the conference organisers wanted to get across was that the rest of us human mortals should manage to do the same (and of course to swallow the "organic" message).

Helen Browning, Eastbrook Farm, Wiltshire
Effectively established a brand for her (and her neighbours) organic farm products.
A lady with great initiative and drive who did not always follow conventional advice.
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

Esential components of her recipe for success were "branding" of products and gaining the co-operation of neighbouring farms. With the exception of the "organic" link, it all made very good sense - apart that is from the massive amount of work involved for what appeared to be not very remarkable returns.

But the "organic" link could be a serious fault line running through the whole venture. The public may well come to realise the profound weaknesses inherent in the "organic" movement. The "organic" movement claims great percentage increases in their share of the market, but it is to remembered that this is on a basis of only producing some 2% of the food consumed in the UK. In the foreseeable future it is possible that this percentage may fall rather then increase as the gloss comes off the "organic" image.

So this could not be the answer to how the hill farms in Scotland are going to survive the progressively severe cuts in their subsidy funding - no matter how well they tried to market their products or co-operate with each other, and no matter what start-up funding the government might provide in the short-term. As Dr Ruth Watkins has recently so clearly documented, "organic" farming on less favoured land has serious problems both in relation to animal welfare and the conservation of the environment (10).

It is worth noting that the Scottish Executive's efforts to promote Scottish products through Scottish Enterprise and its "Scotland the Brand" was a conspicuous failure (19). So why should individual farmers in the Scottish hills be expected to succeed?

Over many years when compared to most of Scotland's working population, Scottish farmers have had to have a remarkably wide range of skills to survive. Is it really logical to expect them to acquire even more skills in order for the nation to feed itself cheaply and for the nation to have its land looked after cheaply? This in the face of an increasingly obtrusive bureaucracy dictating as to how the land is to be managed, and declining financial resources.

Ceri Ritchie

Ceri Ritchie of the SAC Rural Business and Marketing Group also encouraged farmers to improve their entrepreneurial skills. She also encouraged them to make full use of modern information technology available through their computers. But was she acting in the role of a second-hand car saleswoman (or of a supermarket promotion) selling government spin rather than that of a competent professional adviser putting forward a balanced opinion?

Not a word was said in her talk about the technical difficulties of operating quite sophisticated computer skills in even modestly remote rural environments. Not a word that broadband is currently not available in many rural areas within Scotland. For example, my farm is only 54 miles from Edinburgh and even less from Glasgow, and some 25 miles from Stirling or Perth; but broadband is not even scheduled to be available until May 2005. Fortunately I have backup from the company's business office in Edinburgh, otherwise matters would be substantially more difficult. If it is difficult enough where I am, the problems are likely to be much worse in more remote rural areas.

Not a word was said about the difficulties of rural housing. How can young people be attracted to rural areas when house prices are grossly inflated by urban workers with their high incomes wanting to take advantage of the rural idyl, but largely at the rural worker's expense? But this would fit with the urban elite and the rural serfs concept that I have heard expressed by a well-known professor of rural economy, who himself was well-established in the urban elite category.

Not a word about the concerns of parents with young families or elderly relatives over the NHS24 scheme whereby there or no local general practitioner services after hours. Instead it is a nurse at the end of a telephone (when you can get through) who takes a history, and who has been documented as allegedly asking for the telephone to be put the baby's chest so that she can listen to the breath sounds (20). Perhaps she would have also liked to have listened to the distraught mother percussing the baby's chest in order to make a clinical diagnosis of pneumonia. All this when the upshot is a request that mother and baby make their own way to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee some 50 miles away in the middle of the night in midwinter (20) because an ambulance would take too long and is mainly reserved for people having heart attacks.

Not a word was said about the problems of rural transport, when petrol prices are some 7-10% higher in rural areas than in the cities - even if the rural worker could afford a car. For example, my farm attempted to employ the services of a farmworker who lived some 15 miles away but who did not have a car. The only public transport available was the bus service and it only ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays - and even then he couldn't get near the farm until 10.00am at the earliest.

What was all this about a poor uptake of the government subsidised Farm Business Development Scheme? Since when was the SAC renowned for getting its own finances in order, let alone telling someone else how to do it? The farmer is likely to be told by such a business advisor (who may have little personal experience of farming, or had previously given it up) to diversify, to go "organic" in order to get tempting start-up grants, to put together some environmental programme that probably makes little sense, to find a niche market, to invest in providing tourist accommodation that is already over subscribed, to diversify into some other type of business or to get out.

Surely this cannot be the way forward for Scotland to maintain its own food supply let alone achieve standards that will compete internationally.

Problems with the Farm Business Development Scheme were anticipated back in 2001 (21). It is ironic that the audit of SAC's dire financial state by accountants Deloitte and Touche recommended in 2003 that the SAC should not diversify but concentrate on what it was good at (14).

Alan Stevenson

Alan Stevenson clearly made a tidy income from his professional accounting expertise on a national and international scale in relation to businesses other than farming. Indeed he will be able to continue at least part-time with his accounting business while he itakes over running the farm that has been in his family for some considerable period of time.

Alan Stevenson, Farmer. East Lothian,Scotland
Returns to family farm after a successful career as an accountant in business.
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

That is of course admirable - and indeed a good number of years ago it could be said that I myself did something similar although there was no farm within the family. But the scene has changed radically with CAP reform whereby the economics of farming are being seriously and deliberately downgraded by the Scottish Executive through a policy which might superficially appear well intended but which is seriously flawed.

Alan Stevenson described his ambitious plans for his substantial farm in East Lothian, which one would imagine has some of the best farming land in Scotland. But here again this surely could not be the answer to Scotland's farming industry where 85% of farming land is on less favoured ground. Is Scotland's farming to be dependent on those who are successful in other areas coming into the industry to supply the necessary capital and personally subsidise its running costs through other earnings?

It would appear that he had not fallen for "organic" spin.

Brian Kaye

Culfargie estates, of which Brian Kaye is estates manager, is a massive estate. I visited it when it had an open day last year to celebrate its recognition as a Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) demonstration farm, and when the guest of honour was Lord Lindsay - Minister for Agricutlure, Food and the Environment for Scotland between 1995 and 1997 and now president of RSPB Scotland (and many other things).

Land-Care carried an article about LEAF when it held a public meeting in St Andrews in March 2004, entitled "What is environmentally friendly food production: the scientists' view" (12).

The Culfargie Estates runs half of its farming under "organic" rules and the other half under LEAF rules - sort of hedging one's bets both ways.

Brian Kaye, Estates Manager, Culfargie Estates, Perthshire.
Follows both Leaf and"organic" forms of farming.
Sees no market for spring barley and the appeal of "organic" farming declining.
Concerned about difficulty in recruiting good staff.
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

What was good about Brian Kaye's talk at the SAC conference was that he brought some realism into the meeting. He recognised that the appeal of "organic" farming was declining and he recognised that there was now great difficulty in recruiting sufficiently skilled staff, or even staff that were amenable to achieving such skills whatever the training facilities provided.

Certainly Culfargie Estates had been making much use of environmental schemes and the subsidies that went with them. But there was something incongruous here.

The part of Culfargie Estates that the visitors toured on the LEAF open day was near Balbeggie, some 15 miles outside Perth. The overwhelming impression was that this was a highly efficient, primarily arable part of this substantial farm. Indeed a commendable powerhouse of Scottish arable farming. My impression of Balbeggie is that it is one of the few remaining villages that appears to depend on farming and to retain that character.

The part of the Culfargie Estates that we were shown was not in an area that tourists were likely to frequent. The area did not seem amenable to walkers either of the short or long distance kind as there are already abundant areas in Perthshire that are much more suited to that purpose. Why then was all this money and effort going into environment conservation when hardly anyone was going to see it? What is the purpose of having little patches of special grasses to attract butterflies or skylarks when there is hardly anyone about? The area was so vast that patches of special tree planting looked a bit like putting a small postage stamp on a size A1 envelope.

There was little time for discussion at the LEAF open day at Culfargie but one questioner inquired as to the calving arrangements in relation to the pastures devoted to encouraging conservation type grasses. It transpired that the cattle took second place even when it came to calving, and that the special grasses did not seem to be doing all that well.

It was ironic that the visitng party were encouraged to walk on the newly sprouting arable crop rather than on the conservation type grasses at the edge of the field next to the hedges, this being the exact opposite of what the SNH Scottish Outdoor Access Code (SOAC) has to say. According to that code the public has a right not only to walk on such conservation grasses but to take their horses and their dogs on it as well, but to keep off cereal crops - a sad example of how poorly the SOAC has been drafted.

Somehow the priorities at Culfargie Estate seemed to be wrong. Here was a first class arable farm with magnificent facilities getting all mixed up in a range of environmental issues that seemed to be of little relevance in that particular area. By all means use as little fertiliser and pesticide as compatible with good crop production, and let's have lots of hedge rows that can provide shelter where livestock might be, but trying to convert such a massive area into a conservation park would be so expensive as to be unrealistic and for little purpose.

There are lots and lots of other places in Scotland that would be much more amenable for biodiversity and conservation activities, and where generations of farmers have in fact already achieved environmental excellence on rougher ground. Scotland's economy (nor Europe's for that matter) cannot afford such a luxury as converting high grade arable land into an environmental theme park. Scotland has little enough good arable land and Scotland does need high quality food production.

My guess is that Culfargie Estates may well come out of "organic" farming and stay with the more logical LEAF organisation: provided the government's illogical subsidy system will make such a change economically viable. If the grant system favoured neither "organic" or LEAF farming, I guess this superb farm would simply get on with producing excellent quality food by conventional methods based on sound science.

Carey Coombs

Carey Coombs, an "organic" hill farmer extolled the supposed virtues and economies of this mode of farming. I understood him to claim that adding minerals to soil or feed was not necessary and that breeds of livestock should be chosen that could resist such deficiencies, but did not reveal how this could be achieved.

Carey Coombs, Tenant Farmer. Weston Farm, Lanarkshire
Yet another organic farmer, although organic output accounts
for only 2% of food production in Scotland.
photo ©Kimpton Graphics

Presumably the recipe is low livestock density - so low that it can hardly be economically sustainable in the absence of preferential "organic" farming grants. Clearly he is being business efficient in terms of using the available business opportunities in order for his farming enterprise to survive. The problem is that the business opportunities dictated by the government don't make much sense.

As recently emphasised by Dr Ruth Watkins, whose hill farm in Wales presumably has a similar type of terrain and climate, there are major concerns about the standard of animal welfare under "organic" farming schemes (10). "Organic" farming may well be a recipe for staying in farming in the short-term (16), but is likely to lead to a decline in the quality of livestock if applied too widely and for too long. It would appear to be in direct conflict with another scheme much promoted by government aimed at improving animal health and welfare (23).

Discussion Session

One of the issues briefly discussed was the change in the rules that now exist in Scotland regarding farm tenancies. The discussion was brief as there was an apparently unanimous view that the new legislation was a disaster, making tenancy agreements much more difficult. As a result there is a serious risk of a lot less land being made available for tenants in the future: and that does not help anybody.

Conclusions

Here then was a conference characterised by conflicting messages and organised in a seriously imbalanced and misleading manner by people who really should have known better.

The messages were conflicting essentially because the politicians were pursuing what appeared to be a well-meaning but illogical course, while the farmers were trying their best to keep their heads above water by adapting as best they can to potentially catastrophic changes in government policy. The shift in the European Commission's agricultural policy (CAP) from food production to environmental issues can have little or no beneficial effect on climate change, food quality or even attracting tourists. It is based on ill-conceived political ideology with little scientific basis.

There were indeed problems with the CAP over the years, but these arose from poor administration rather than an inherent fault in the policy. The EC could simply not act fast enough - or logically enough - to adapt an essentially good policy to changing needs. In the attempt to meet this criticism the EC has now allowed a greater degree of freedom for individual member states to select what they want to do within a range of options, but which still favour "green" issues to an inordinate degree. The trouble for the UK - and for Scotland in particular - is that its government (at Westminster and Holyrood) has opted to be leaders in going down the wrong route.

The government's obsession with "organic" farming - presumably to try and attract some votes away from the "greens" - is not based on science or logic. Indeed "organic" farming has been persuasively labelled as anti-science" (10).

Many who previously worked on the land have become disillusioned and have left, taking their skills with them. It would appear that government prefers to listen to academics with little or no farming experience pursuing their own interests, or to rich single-focus lobby groups pursuing theirs.

As for the SAC, they seem to follow whatever direction from which they perceive the political wind to be blowing. Thus they may be able to maintain their own financial viability, and so avoid the fate of many farms which will be increasingly faced with the option of giving up before it is too late.

In a conference called "Benefiting from Change" it was remarkable that not once was reference made to the warning expressed by the chief executive of one of Scotland's leading farming co-operatives, Brian Pack of Aberdeen Northern Marts Ltd (23):

But then neither was there any such reference made in the Royal Society of Edinburgh's conference entitled "Scotland's Land", illustrating just how imbalanced both these conferences were. Indeed, it brings one back to ask the question posed at the People Too conference: "Who Rules Rural Scotland?".

Far from benefiting from change, the gap between "the urban elite" and "the rural serfs" is set to widen. Shortly there may not be enough "rural serfs" left to look after the livestock, the crops or even the land itself. Only then may governments be forced to discard their poorly conceived policies and once again rely on competent science.

©LandCare Scotland

References

1. Irvine, James (2004). Review. "Scotland's land" Royal Society of Edinburgh conference, 30th September 2004
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 04 Oct 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

2. Irvine, James (2004). Review. Part 1: Introduction. "Who rules rural Scotland?" People Too conference, Perth. 29th October 2004,
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 08 Nov 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

3. Robertson, Liz (2004). "SNH and the Island of Arran". A case study presented at "Who rules rural Scotland?" People Too conference, Perth. 29th October 2004.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19 Nov 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

4. Irvine, James (2004). Concerns about the validity of statements on the condition of SSSIs in Scotland made by members of Environment LINK. Review and comment on a case study presented by Kirsty Macleod. "Who rules rural Scotland", People Too conference, Perth. 29th Oct 2004.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 17 Nov 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

5. Irvine, James (2004). Review of paper given by Professor Ian Boyd "From science to policy and management" given at "Who runs rural Scotland?" People Too conference, Perth. 29th October 2004.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 21 Nov 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

6. Irvine, James (2005). Lack of logic or science is now the fashion, but is it a good idea? Based on a paper given by John Stewart entitled "From voodoo to windfarms: mumbo-jumbo rules" at "Who rules rural Scotland?" People Too conference, Perth. 29th October 2004.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 06 Jan 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

7. Irvine, James (2003). Review. "Agriculture: the primary health service?". Soil Association and SAC Conference, Paisley 26th May 2003. High in hype, but poor in credibility.
See FOOD Homepage, filed 26 May 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

8. Irvine, James (2004). Recently retired vice-principal of SAC reportedly talks more havers about organic farming
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 22 Sept 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

9. Editorial (2002). Food Standards Agency does not provide support for organic farming.
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 14 Nov 02, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

10. Watkins, Ruth (2005). Proposal for a new organic status for hill farmers and conservation farmers: organic "B" introduction and problems with organic rules.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 19 Jan 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

11. Trewavas, A. (2001). Urban myths of organic farming. Nature 410: 409-410.

12. Editorial (2002). "Organic farmers will have to get real" says Professor McKellar.
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 23 Dec 02, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

13. Irvine, James (2003). Concern over organic livestock animal health.
See ANIMAL HEALTH Homepage, filed 09 Jun 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

14. Irvine, James (2004). Shake up at the Scottish Agricultural College: what is the present standing of Scottish agriculture?
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 17 Mar 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

15. SEERAD (2005). Strategic research for SEERAD: environment, biology and agriculture, 2005-2010.
Published January 2005 by Scottish Executive. ISBN: 0-7559-4293-0. Available from Blackwell's Bookshop, 53 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1 YS

16. Editorial (2003). SEERAD announces awards for organic aid scheme - but why do they do it?
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 14 Mar 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

17. Arbuckle, Andrew (2005). Many farmers threatening to leave industry.
Courier, Thursday 20th January, 2005 p 14.

18. http://www.helenbrowningorganics.co.uk

19. Fields, Julia (2004). Scotland the brand votes of wind up.
Sunday Herald, 20 May 2004
http://www.sundayherald.com/print42271

20. Newport, Andrew and Boxer, Caroline (2005). NHS 24 will end in death. Health workers slam out-of-hours system.
Leading article, Strathearn Herald, Friday 14 January, 2005; pp 1 and 12.

21. Irvine, James (2001). New enterprises - new beginnings. Farmers workshop, Coupar Angus, June 2001.
LandCare Scotland: Vol 1, pp45-50.

22. Irvine, James (2004). "What is environmentally friendly food production: the scientists' view". Public meeting LEAF Scotland, St Andrews 24 March 2004.
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 25 Mar 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

23. Irvine, james (2004). Animal Health and Welfare Strategy for GB - launched 24 June 2004 - a critique.
See ANIMAL HEALTH Homepage, filed 26 Jun 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

24. Irvine, James (2004). Leading farm-owned cooperative warns that a U-turn on farm subsidies may be needed.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 20 Sep 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View