Call for continued public support

The wide variation in performance both within and between farms types represents a “flag of opportunity” for the farming industry, it was claimed yesterday.

Commenting on figures released earlier in the week in a Scottish Government report, NFU Scotland’s head of policy Jonnie Hall said that Scottish agriculture’s profile was remarkably diverse, and some variation in performance is to be expected.

Admitting that the analysis in the Farm Business Income report again highlighted the industry’s continued dependence on support payments, and diversified income streams, he said the variation in performance across farm size, farm type and location was “most concerning”.

However, he said the findings signaled that there was scope to build on productivity and efficiency improvements – and ultimately to bring about profitability that had less reliance on support payments.

“With a re-alignment of how Scottish agriculture is supported, by shifting from blunt area-based payments to support for actions around both productivity and environment, there is real scope to improve performance across the board – regardless of farm type, farm size or location,” he said.

“Factor in Scottish agriculture’s pivotal role in thriving rural communities, flourishing biodiversity, delivery of climate ambitions and the provision of high quality produce to fuel Scotland’s food and drinks success story – all of which cannot be captured by TIFF or FBI statistics – then it is vital that public investment is maintained in Scottish agriculture but delivered as a new package of support for Scottish farmers and crofters.”