Championing the new shape of Scottish farming
A transition period of no more than three to five years during which policy and support measurers will remain similar to those in operation – followed by a change to measures designed to improve productivity and skills and enhance natural capital and biodiversity, underwritten with a reduced rate of income support measures.
That was the picture for post-brexit farm policy painted by the four government-appointed agricultural “champions” in their final vision of future farm strategy which was published yesterday – and which is likely to form the kernel of Scotland’s post brexit farm policy.
The report said that the process should have a long-term commitment from the industry, government and the Scottish Parliament which would last at least ten-15 years, and stressed that all groups should work together to get the best outcomes while facing up to harsh realities.
“Unprecedented changes are coming, on top of longstanding problems. Past policies have led to dependency, inefficiency and inequality in many cases and will not work for the future,” read the report.
Under the proposals, the report states that while overall funding should remain at current levels during the transition period, the industry must not sit back – and should use this spell of relative continuity to start evolving and changing towards a more entrepreneurial attitude.
It recommended that that existing payments should be capped in order to release money which would allow adequate funding for proposed new policies and schemes to be effectively trialled and evaluated during the transition period.
However in the second stage it concluded that while there should still be an element of basic income support, this would be at a considerably reduced rate – and the majority of future funding would be allocated to schemes aimed at boosting productivity and enhancing natural capital – and which were tailored to regional or sectorial needs.
It was also proposed that payments for these measures should be capped on a per-farm basis.
“The cap should be based on current receipts for small/medium recipients but reduced from current levels for big recipients” read the report.
The agricultural champions – Henry Graham (Lantra), Archie Gibson (Scottish Food and Drink Federation), John Kinnaird (farmer and former president of NFUS), and Marion Maccormick (former buying director for Aldi) – also stressed that support schemes should be kept simple with clear objectives – and should not fall into the trap of trying to please everyone.
The report stressed that payments would be aimed at moving the industry forward, rather than keeping struggling businesses afloat.
But, facing up to reality, it also said that it had to be accepted that some farm businesses wouldn’t survive, even if current policies were to remain.
On the practical side, it stated that the existing delivery infrastructure should be used, with necessary adjustments – adding that less complex schemes could release some government resources which could be repurposed.
The full set of recommendations is available on the Scottish Government website. John Kinnaird said he believed the document would be taken to the industry in the form of a wide-ranging consultation designed to take the ideas forward.
Welcoming the publication, rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing said he endorsed the publication which would feed directly into his thinking on developing a future farming strategy for the years to come.
NFU Scotland said that the thinking in the report chimed very much with that of its own “Change” documents.