Clarity over climate change needed now

This should have been the week Scottish farmers finally learned the practical steps they need to take to tackle climate change and the biodiversity crisis.

The international warnings, the urgency and the pressure on the industry from all quarters to reform has been relentless, and producers have pleaded for years for a clear steer from the Scottish Government on policy and the specific measures they can take to make a difference – because getting it right matters to them as much as anyone. And they haven’t held back in giving practical advice in countless consultations, working groups and farmer-led committees.

But what was announced this week after the Scottish Government’s 100 days in office? Not the longpromised pilot schemes to test-drive new policy or a budget to make it work but further consultation and yet another committee.

It means we now have to get our heads round an ARIOB. I’ll be writing about it for the foreseeable future, so here goes ... it’s a (gender balanced) Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board and it’s supposedly going to create “a package of funded measures that will be trialled in a National Test Programme”.

I almost wept just reading the press release; goodness knows how farmers feel when the future of their businesses depends on this stuff.

The ARIOB has an extensive cast, including many farmers who’ve been involved in previous groups, all of them great producers and giving up their time for the industry cause – but surely they’ve all contributed everything they’ve got to add already?

The glaring omission in the line-up is Jim Walker, the architect of the first practical blueprint for a climate-friendly beef scheme. The former NFU Scotland president is, however, an outspoken critic of Scottish civil servants who, he has claimed, want a cull of 300,000 cattle to help meet government emissions targets. So no place at the table for Jim.

The endless procrastination is enough to make me reflect wistfully on the EU’s negotiations over Common Agricultural Policy reform which always seemed to be interminable – but at least there was a deadline. The next target set by the Scottish Government for more information – if anyone is still interested – is the COP26 meeting in November.

But the industry can take heart this week that ambitious scientific developments to support food and farming are in the pipeline.

Agricarbon, the carbon measuring tool developed by Dundee fruit farmer and entrepreneur Stewart Arbuckle, announced a major injection of cash and support from First Milk, and the £62 million scientific facilities at the James Hutton Institute at Invergowrie are finally under construction.

We can put our faith in our scientists, if not our politicians.

CONCERNS: Farmers are still waiting to learn what schemes they can be involved with to combat climate change.