New farmers’ union chairman sets out priorities
ARGYLL and the islands region has a new NFU Scotland chairman, after John Semple stood down last week.
At the end of a five-year spell as chairman of the regional board, Mr Semple was succeeded by Bute farmer John Dickson at the regional AGM in Tarbert on Friday January 15.
Looking back at his time at the helm, Mr Semple of Lochead Farm, Achahoish, said: ‘I feel a sense of pride looking back at what we’ve managed to achieve over the past five years through the union. There’s no doubt I will miss it over the next few months.’
He added: ‘ What I won’t miss is getting up at 4.30am to go to a board meeting in Edinburgh, then coming back home to feed cattle at night. But it’s been a great privilege to serve as chairman for this area.
‘I’m not totally going away though - I still sit on the LFA (less favoured area) committee, which has a very important role to play in what happens with Argyll farming in future.’
Mr Dickson farms in partnership with his son, Ian, at Scalpsie Farm on the Isle of Bute where he runs 140 beef cows and 1,000 Blackface and cross ewes. A past chairman of his local Bute branch, he has also represented Argyll and the islands on the union’s tenant farming working group.
Mr Dickson said: ‘It is an honour to be elected to this post. Having represented the region on tenant farming matters for some years, I felt it was the right time for a new challenge.
‘An immediate priority will be to support those milking cows on Bute, Gigha and Kintyre.
‘The situation for dairy farmers is now critical and, given their importance to the wider rural economy, we need to look at how we can get more money into the pockets of the region’s dairymen.
‘Having represented the region on tenancy matters, the current Land Reform Bill going through the Scottish Parliament could have a big impact and we need to make sure that we fully understand how the bill may affect both land owners and tenant farmers.
‘And given the hugely important contribution that hill farming in Argyll and the islands makes to food production, communities, local economies, tourism, biodiversity and landscapes, we need to make sure that changes to support arrangements do not undermine this vulnerable sector.
‘Changes to direct support arrangements for 2015 onwards are only just bedding in, but we must remember that pillar two support for our hill farmers, through the less favoured areas support scheme, has also been a crucial lifeline.
‘That, too, is going to change from 2017 onwards. I want to make sure that the shift to the new Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme does not impact on the region.
‘While devising a new scheme will be challenging, it is such a fundamental part of the total support package for hill farming in Argyll and the islands that we must make it work.’