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Scotland cattle farmers hit out at
Brussels and environmentalists
Mike Wade
Columnist: Scottish Edition, The Times
Filed 27 Sep 08
©Mike Wade
This article was originally published in The Times on 27th September 2008.
It is reproduced here with the kind permission of its author and of the newspaper
The main business of the day swings into action at Perth Mart - once the biggest cattle market in central Scotland, now barely half full. The ruddy-faced men chatting among themselves are immediately alert, leaning forward intently as the animals shoulder one another into the ring. The lad in the white coat prods the first pair of James Irvine's suckler cows, with their sleek coats and wary eyes. The auctioneer begins his rapid-fire commentary.
In an hour or so, 109 head of Aberdeen Angus and Limousin suckler cattle are sold off to buyers around the ring, and 20 years of careful husbandry and expert breeding comes to an end. The pride of James Irvine's farm at Comrie in Perthshire has fallen to the red tape, low profits and uncertain prospects that have afflicted so many of Scotland's hill farmers in recent years.
The Auction Mart at UA Perth prior to the start of the
Cultybraggan Farm major reduction sale
(Photo ©Kimpton Graphics)
This is a different photo from the one that accompanied The TImes article
To enlarge photo Click Here
It is not an interlude that the farmer enjoys. Little wonder that Mr Irvine looks pale and sounds bitter. “It's like selling off the family silver,” he says, shaking his head. With his restless nature, and an impatient, perfectionist manner, if anyone could make farming work, it should be Mr Irvine. This former physician is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh who, in 1987, set himself up on the land. He established a reputation quickly as an agricultural innovator and specialist publisher who became a recognised expert on cattle breeding and an adviser on animal health to the National Beef Association. So how on earth did it come to this?
The trouble is, “upland farming is no longer financially viable”, he says, and it is the same story all over the Highlands. Without a listening ear in government, under pressure from rising costs and befuddled by legislation, farmers are cutting back or selling up. Earlier this year, a report by the Scottish Agricultural College demonstrated that there had been a 23 per cent reduction in sheep numbers in the past ten years and an 11.7 per cent reduction in the beef-breeding herds in upland Scotland. Those grim statistics were followed by an RSE report that gave warning that plans by the British Government to withdraw its subsidy to agriculture in the next five years would lead to the collapse of the Highlands and Islands economy. For some, it seems, that problem has already arrived.
Mr Irvine has the clearest notion of where the causes lie. Blame lies: among the bureaucrats at home and abroad and in the conservation lobby that works so hard to interfere in his life. “Environmentalist” - defined by Mr Irvine as the man who sits in an office a long way away and knows nothing of land management - is a word he fairly spits out. “Caring for the environment is something farmers do very well, and have done for centuries, for all the flak they get from conservationists. But now there is a serious imbalance. You either let farmers get on with the good management which they have done for generations or interfere and waste money on short-term projects which have nothing to do with production,” he says.
The trail of blame for the farming crisis can be traced back to Brussels and the European Community, he says, but it passes through the Scottish Government, which prefers to offer financial aid to improve the environment rather than increase production.
Instead, he says, subsidies are “so misdirected that they are impractical”, so “poorly designed” that they are a waste of money. Even the simple things that could be achieved never come to pass. Scottish beef and lamb are premium products, renowned all over the world, but go curiously unrecognised in their own country.
“On any menu there should be clear identification of something which is born and bred in Scotland. But you can't get recognition in your own catering trade. Can you imagine the same happening with French wines? There have been vague promises from the Scottish Government but nothing has ever happened,” Mr Irvine says.
For many farmers the Common Agricultural Policy, reformed in 2005, has proved the breaking point. An industry that had once been subsidised to produce ever higher yields found that productivity was no longer the objective. Instead, a single payment was offered. “Diversity”, “sustainability” and “added value” became the buzzwords of the hour. Farmers were encouraged to open up to tourism and to find new ways to respect the natural world around them.
Not surprisingly, in a deeply traditional industry, the sea-changes were met with a certain scepticism and dire predictions about the future. Three years on, those predictions are coming true in Perth's half-full Mart - which is itself scheduled for closure.
The auctioneer David Leggat has seen the same phenomenon up and down the country as he toured sheep and cattle sales between Stirling and Lairg. Markets like this are half full these days, wherever he goes. “There are a lot of serious issues for farmer,” he says. “As the national herd reduces, the infrastructure begins to crumble. We have fewer hauliers and vets, and it all becomes more expensive for those who stay in the business.”
Like Mr Irvine, he identifies a skill shortage as a real threat to the Highland economy. “As less people are involved, so fewer train. There's a kind of brain drain. Hopefully the industry can recover but there will be a void there in terms of the people who have the skills,” he says.
Around Comrie, Mr Irvine says, he is one of the last farmers to give up cattle. Skills nurtured over generations have already been lost. “It's the right time to sell,” he says. “I've no regrets.”
©Mike Wade
Further Information
VANISHING HERDS
— Scotland's 500,000 breeding beef cows, and their 500,000 calves produce around 180,000 tonnes of beef, valued at £500 million a year
— 3 million breeding sheep and 3.5 million lambs produce 30,000 tonnes of sheep meat a year, valued at £150 million
— 83 percent of Scotland is designated as disadvantaged land and this is home to around 13,000 farms
— In a hill breeding sheep flock, a farmer is losing around £26 per ewe
— In an LFA suckler cow herd, a farmer is losing around £280 per cow
— Between 1998 and 2007, the national sheep flock reduced by 2.3 million to around 7.5 million sheep, a 23 per cent reduction
— In the North and West of Scotland some areas have seen reductions of between 35 and 60 per cent in sheep numbers since 1999
— The beef-breeding herd has reduced by 11.7 per cent since 1998 to just over 470,000
Source: Times database |
