Don’t criticise NFU Scotland for farming woes

Sir, - Given the unrelenting pressure placed on the Scottish Government by NFU Scotland to deliver a workable CAP deal for Scotland’s farmers, I am seriously disappointed with the criticism directed at the union from those who should really know better (The Courier, February, 19).

Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead needs to take the bit between his teeth, accept responsibility for the inefficient £180 million computer system he has installed and use what time he has left in office to rebuild his credibility within the sector.

Policy decisions on CAP were made almost two years ago now, so blame for the dreadful delays in support lies firmly with the Scottish Government’s chosen IT system.

In the past few months, NFU Scotland has highlighted to politicians the cash flow crisis affecting the whole rural economy, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been challenged on her government’s failings and Richard Lochhead was well and truly called to account at NFU Scotland’s AGM.

Since the Highland Show in June 2015, almost every week has seen NFUS push the Scottish Government to come clean on its timetable for delivering CAP so that all rural businesses – feed merchants, machinery dealers, auctioneers, seed and fertiliser salesmen – can plan ahead.

Everyone is struggling at the minute and this makes it easier to blame the union when all things seem to be against us, whether it is the currency, the drop in CAP budget, the weather or, more importantly, commodity prices.

We really need to step back sometimes and appreciate how things might have looked if our union’s lobbying had not succeeded on a number of things over the past couple of years.

Things are more complicated now than in the past but securing a support mechanism that is as good as we could get – and successfully retaining a budget to support our farmers in Less Favoured Areas – was only possible through constructive negotiation with all three governments (Scottish, UK and European) and not through burning tyres or throwing things into the water. The list of issues that the union is battling on a daily basis continues to grow – fair prices, greening, flooding, land reform, red tape – to name but a few and the whole union works tirelessly along with elected members and the wider membership to reduce the impact these have on us.

Hearing some undermine the one organisation that fights for all sectors simply makes me more determined to represent the membership and highlight the positives achieved by the union.