Get ready for bun fight

Brace yourselves for the bun fight.

The millions owed to Scottish agriculture aren’t in the bank yet – or even in the post – but the headache of figuring out how the long-promised dividend should be shared out has already begun.

All the single commodity lobbyists, the environmental and conservation pressure groups and every man and his dog – including those who have retired or left the industry since 2013 – will have plans to get their hands on some of the £160 million of European aid announced this week as a result of the industry’s tenacity over the last five years (and Boris Johnson’s desperation to hold on to at least some of his MPs north of the border).

All we know for now is that the funds have been ring-fenced for agriculture and the retrospective cash is expected in the next financial year.

But will the money come as a lump sum or over a period of time?

What are the implications of a general election on the promises made?

Will there be a government in power that will deliver it?

Is the Scottish Government’s flawed computer system fit to cope with a new set of complex demands?

The potential of Scottish farming to be strong and prosperous has never been in question but producers are staring down the barrel of a no-deal Brexit, weighed down by a lack of liquidity and unfounded allegations of destroying the planet and ill-treating livestock.

A financial injection of this magnitude, together with an extra allocation of government support over the next two years, could not be better timed.

Assuming the cash does come, the scale of the funds makes for an unprecedented opportunity for government and Scottish agriculture to set about meeting climate change targets and preparing for the brave new world outwith the Common Agricultural Policy.

The Less Favoured Areas remain a priority – they are, after all, the reason Scotland attracted the money in the first place – and the wider beef industry is in with a strong shout, particularly when it has the backing of Jim Walker, the aggressive and impossible-toignore Scottish voice on the Bew

We’ll never get a better chance to put the industry on a sound footing

Review advisory panel. He has no intention of backing out now he has helped secure the funds and may well become a thorn in the flesh of the union which is likely to demand everyone gets a share – a strategy which could risk diluting any long-term impact.

What is certain is there can be no question of handing out any of the retrospective money to anyone but active farmers, the producers taking the risks and putting food on tables.

We’ll never get a better chance to put the industry on a sound footing for the future. Let’s not squander it.

Picture: PA. Boris Johnson visited Darnford Farm at Banchory to confirm the government would implement the recommendations of the Bew Review.

Farming Matters Nancy Nicolson