It is time for ScotGov’s farm support plans to be put ‘in the public domain’
SCOTLAND’S FARMERS need to know more about ScotGov’s long-term plans for agricultural policy – and their patience is wearing thin.
By contrast with drastic policy moves south of the border, where DEFRA abruptly scrapped the old Common Agricultural Policy support structures and propelled English farming towards a system almost entirely dependent on environmental outcomes, rather than food production, Scotland’s Rural Affairs Cabinet secretary Mairi Gougeon has been methodically slow in her progress towards a new Scottish farm support system.
There have already been several layers of industry consultation, and numerous ad hoc bodies formed from representatives of various farming and rural ‘stakeholders’ to lay out their ideas for what shape the new policy should take.
The National Farmers Union Scotland has been a willing participant in this process, reasoning that it is better to take a long time to get to the right outcome.
However, last week’s ScotGov announcement of a consultation on the Agriculture Bill has proven to be the last nail in the coffin of the NFUS’ forbearance. There had been hope that the consultation would at last reveal some detail of ScotGov’s plans upon which farmers could start to build their confidence – but instead what farmers got was an invitation to discuss what constitutional powers would be needed to deliver a stand alone ag-policy that diverges from DEFRA’s entirely green schemes.
The NFUS leadership suffered an immediate backlash, with some suggesting they had allowed themselves to be strung along by ScotGov, as union participation in the various committees and boards had so far achieved precisely nothing for the farmers they were there to represent.
The union has called out Ms Gougeon, and asked that she put her favoured future policy options “in the public domain”.
As chance would have it, the CabSec had already been scheduled to attend the union’s board meeting on Tuesday, where she heard reports from all sectors of Scottish agriculture – livestock, dairy, horticulture, cereals, pigs and poultry – and learned about the impacts of soaring input costs, with clear indications that some are already scaling back, and livelihoods are at risk.
Speaking after the meeting, union president Martin Kennedy said: “Last week’s launch of the consultation on the Agriculture Bill was an open goal for Scottish Government to put future policy options, including direct support plans to reward activity, on the table for discussion by farmers and crofters – and they missed it by a mile.
“The industry is suffering a crisis of confidence and deserve clarity on the direction of travel towards a new policy in 2025. There is a yawning policy gap that our members and other stakeholders want to see filled now and Scottish Government needs to start doing more of the heavy lifting on this hugely important subject.
“I fully accept that this Bill is about the powers necessary to deliver primary legislation, but the industry needs to see future policy options, and these must be on the table now.
“The penny hasn’t dropped with Scottish or UK Governments on the impact costs are having. A dedicated food security unit within Scottish Government was announced in June.
“That was a chance to get ahead of the game on understanding the impact of costs on our whole food and drink sector, including the shop shelf, but here we are in September, and the crisis is deepening.”
Responding, Ms Gougeon said: “We have been working alongside industry to co-develop our future agriculture transformation policy, ensuring that farmers, crofters and land managers have what they need as we move towards the new Scottish Agriculture Bill which will be brought forward in 2023 and will provide a replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy. We recently launched the Agriculture Bill Consultation; Delivering our Vision for Scottish Agriculture. This important consultation will play a vital part in shaping the forthcoming Agriculture Bill and I would encourage stakeholders to participate in the process, which includes a number of online and in- person events which will be announced shortly.”