The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Governments set to act after milk returns are cut
A farm grieve has retired after 50 years on the same farm in Kincardineshire.
Kenneth Greig’s retirement marks the end of his family’s long association with Arbuthnott Estate at Arbuthnott.
His grandfather and father, both Archie, were also farm grieves on the estate for the Arbuthnott family and each worked on it for more than 30 years.
Mr Greig, 65, said he had joined the estate straight from school and worked his way up. He became grieve more than 20 years ago.
He added: “There’s been a lot of changes, but the job has got a lot easier over the years. The machinery has made a big difference. All the modern equipment is so much better.”
Mr Greig said after such a busy life on the farm it was hard to make the adjustment to retired life.
He is, however, returning to work later in the summer as he will be taking to the wheel of the estate’s combine to harvest its 2,000 acres of arable crops – winterwheatandmalting barley.
“It’s a Claas Lexion with self-levelling. It’s a dream to drive,” added Mr Greig.
“There used to be a lot of sheep and cattle on the estate. There were bulbs and potatoes too, but it is now all arable.”
Current boss Keith Arbuthnott said Mr Greig had joined the estate staff in 1962 and had worked for both his father and grandfather. He paid tribute to Mr Greig’s sterling service, saying he could not thank him enough for the contribution he had made to the Home Farm over 50 years.
Mr Greig received a watch frommr Arbuthnott, while his wife, Kathleen, was presented with a bouquet. Acode of practice to put the power in the dairy chain back in the hands of farmers is a step nearer becoming a reality.
The UK and Scottish governments last night said in a rare joint statement that the ex-farm milk price cuts in the last week by Dairy Crest and Robert Wiseman Dairies highlighted the need for action. Both administrations willnowworktogether to develop a code. But UK minister Jim Paice said the code, designed to improve contractual conditions, will remain voluntary. He did, however, concede it had to be robust.
Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said ministers agreed on putting their collective weight behind getting a code in place, adding he was pleased the UK shared his concerns about the impact the price cuts would have on farmers.
Wiseman is to chop 2p a litre off its farmgate price from June 1, while Dairy Crest is reducing its rates by the same amount for a group of its producers.
Wiseman supports a volu n t a r y code, but a spokesman said it already offered industry-leading contracts through which it gives producers four weeks’ notice of price changes and lets farmers terminate deals within three months, as opposed to 12 months used by others. NFU Scotland’s Bob Carruth welcomed what was a very welcome interventionbypoliticians toend the imbalance that “clearly exists contractually between producers and processors”. It was now up to processors to bring positive contractual solutions to the discussions on the code.