Buy local to keep standards high

Our local butchers have been running flat out to keep up with demand since the pandemic struck, and as more of our consumers now fully appreciate the quality of Scottish produce, this demand is hopefully here to stay.

Provided we don’t fall into the trap of importing substandard or inferior produce then this sector may just have turned the corner.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the same for all sectors.

While a lot of work goes into raising the profile of livestock production systems, the arable sector is equally important in terms of Scotland’s productive capacity, employment and economic returns.

Prime agricultural land in Scotland only accounts for around 8 or 9% of total farmed land – but its economic contribution is massive.

Arable farmers are often unfairly targeted as the bad guys, but their contribution through the likes of Greening and Ecological Focus Areas make a huge contribution to the environment and climate change mitigation.

Indeed there are many farmers and crofters involved in livestock production who would be wise to take a leaf out of an arable farmer’s book.

Take for example soil testing and soil mapping.

The arable sector has been doing this for decades. It is now standard practice and they are reaping the benefit of keeping their soil health in tip top condition.

Recent independent research into arable production and climate change revealed that over the past 30 years the carbon stocks within our arable soils have not changed. This is something we should be extremely proud of as it’s certainly not the case in other parts of the world.

This really highlights why it’s so important that not only should we be supporting Scottish livestock production; we should also be making the case to support our homegrown arable crops including fruit and vegetables.

Soft fruit and veg produced here in Scotland tastes fantastic but our growers are increasingly facing competition from other parts of

Europe and the world which have lower growing standards, greater availability of plant protection products and lower labour costs.

Like the arable sector, fruit and veg is certainly under a price squeeze right now.

A fantastic illustration of how margins have been squeezed is machinery, where the costs bear no resemblance to food receipts. One farmer recently told me that, 14 years ago, he bought a 140hp tractor for £35,000. That tractor today would be nearer £100,000.

Another farmer told me that in 1974 the cost of a brand-new Ford 5000 was £2,300 – equivalent to the price of 30 tonnes of malting barley. At today’s prices, you would now need 600 tonnes of malting barley to buy the equivalent tractor.

Producing high-quality food to the standard we have become accustomed comes at a cost, and the best way to meet that cost is not by putting the price up to our consumers for our products, it is by not pulling it down by offering imported products that have cost less to produce and undermines the sustainability of our homeproduced food.

If we want to produce our own food, enhance our environment and assist in climate change mitigation then the only way forward is to source your food as locally as possible.

Like the arable sector, fruit and veg is certainly under a price squeeze right now

Arable farmers make a huge contribution to the environment and climate change mitigation.