Scotland’s agricultural community have been meeting together at the annual conference of the National Farmer’s Union Scotland (NFUS) .

Commenting on his appointment on social media, Jim Fairlie said that he was honoured to join the Scottish Government.

” When it comes to funding, it is the UK treasury that holds the purse strings.” – President, NFU Scotland Martin Kennedy

In his address to the conference NFUS President, Martin Kennedy, stressed the vital role that Farming and Crofting has in the economy of this country. And he explained why it was essential that the importance of the sector was conveyed to politicians in both Edinburgh and London.

He said:

“First of all, there’s as much a lack of understanding of what agriculture does in Westminster as there is in Holyrood.

“Secondly, when it comes to funding, it is the UK treasury that holds the purse strings.

“Thirdly, so many things that affect Scottish agriculture such as trade deals and immigration policy are reserved to Westminster.”

He described the trade deals that the UK Government had done with Australia and New Zealand as selling “agriculture down the river using farmers and crofters as a cheap pawn to get something over the line quickly. “

Martin Kennedy also stated that more money was needed to be allocated to the sector from the UK Treasury because at the moment only 17% of UK funding for agriculture is allocated to Scotland.

Looking to the future the labelling of produce from Scotland’s farms and crofts is essential. The NFUS President said that:

“Informing our consumers is massively important, hence the reason for our push to revamp the labelling system within the UK. 

“We now have a fantastic opportunity to address this through the Good Food Nation Act whereby undisputed transparency of where our food comes from will allow our consumers to make a real informed choice. 

“NFU Scotland’s labelling proposal involves a very simple label in red which simply says;

“MORE THAN 50% OF THIS PRODUCT IS FROM OUTSIDE THE U.K”

Referring to the draft Scottish Budget he said that ” we need at least 80% of the budget as direct payments within tiers 1 and 2.”

“If the SNP government wants to continue to support the biggest part of our economy and genuinely care about our fantastic environment, then I urge them to listen to us as the true economic drivers and custodians of the land and ditch the greens, as ironically they have been the biggest threat to the very environment we want to protect.”

He summed up his speech to the conference in 5 key points:

1. an enhanced budget on a multi annual financial framework to be delivered into the rural economy in a manner that rewards fairly.
2. to push a Scottish first programme when it comes to public procurement.
3. to fully return the £61m of unallocated funds as a matter of urgency to the rural portfolio.
4. to enable fairness throughout the whole supply chain.
5. for the sake of our economy and the environment, scrap the Bute House agreement.

You can read the full speech here

“Your success is the country’s success and my job as First Minister is to ensure you continue to flourish.” – Humza Yousaf First Minister of Scotland

Humza Yousaf, First Minister of Scotland, addressed the conference on Friday, 9th February. He assured farmers and crofters that the Green policies for “producing more of our own food, doing so sustainably, creating of course more resilience in these uncertain times, is absolutely vital to our economic interests – in fact, to all of our interests. “

He continued:

“That’s why I’m proud that the Scottish Government was the first in the UK to set up a food security unit. It’s also why we put food production, and maintaining that, at the heart of our Vision for Agriculture – making it central to the Agriculture and Communities Bill that is being taken forward.”

And he acknowledged the role the farming community played “often in times of difficult, extreme weather, it’s our farmers who often step up and help. Whether it’s helping in terms of minor road accidents or helping clear debris off roads using your tractors – I really appreciate that when we have extreme weather, our agriculture community are often the very first to step up.”

“We believe in tackling the climate crisis and we have a global leadership responsibility to do that, but not at the expense of producing our own food. It’s my genuine heartfelt belief that there doesn’t have to be a conflict – if we can deal with some of the inefficiencies that I’ve talked about we can begin to produce even more food, and that helps you in terms of your bottom line, your balance sheet – and Scotland is better off for it.”

The FM then moved onto the all important issue of financing.

“I am pleased to say today that the payment strategy for 2024 will continue to ensure that you get the vast majority of your payments at the earliest point in the year. Last year we began making BPS and Greening payments on the 4th of September – by the 29th of November we had paid out 95% of planned expenditure, putting £398 million into your farm and croft businesses. We intend to do that again this year, to help your financial planning and ensure you know how and when payments will be made I can confirm that the 2024 payment strategy will match the timings that you saw in 2023. So hopefully that gives you a degree of certainty and assurance – that means that the first payments of BPS and Greening will be hitting your bank accounts in September of this year. 

“These payments mean that you continue to benefit from the most generous package of support that’s available anywhere in the UK. Unlike in other parts of the UK, we will continue to make additional payments to those farming in less favourable areas.”

Humza Yousaf assured the delegates that on deferred funding ” the full £61 million will absolutely be returned to the portfolio” and that his Government would ” listen to you and engage with you, and where we can to make sure we are meeting your needs.”

He also confirmed that “the funding for Tiers 1 and 2 – the tiers that will reflect most closely the direct payment regime, albeit with conditions built in from the start – will constitute at least 70% of the overall funding envelope to support farming, crofting and land management from 2027.

“And I can also advise that once we have determined what and how to replace the current Less Favourable Areas Scheme – LFASS – with support for where the greatest need is, that funding will also be made available to the farmers and crofters in our rural and island communities.”

Before he finished the FM acknowledged the valuable economic contribution Scotland’s famers and crofters make:

• economic output of Scotland’s red meat sector was £2.8 billion in 2020, producing £840 million of GVA to the Scottish economy – up 14.5% from £733 million in 2016.
• the food and drink sector employs around 129,000 people
• exports of Scottish food and drink were valued at a record £8.1 billion in 2022.

The FM shared his concerns that the UK Government has published no details of rural funding beyond next year. The new deal for Northern Ireland with an open border at Cairnryan with no biosecurity checks in place at all, was also extremely worrying . Scotland’s herds are TB free and this status could be compromised with the new deal the UK Government has agreed to.

Click on this link to access Humza Yousaf’s Speech

The Scottish Government’s funding commitment was welcomed by NFUS President Martin Kennedy but said that the ‘huge unknown’ would be what agricultural funding will be made available to Scotland by the UK Government.

Orkney Constituency MSP, LibDem Liam McArthur, has added his voice to calls for the Scottish Government to change course on agriculture policy.

Liam McArthur commented:

“The agriculture sector is at the heart of our rural and island communities, but its needs are certainly not understood at the heart of this SNP-Green government.

“We have an agriculture bill that provides little certainty over how funding and regulation will be applied in future. At the same time, ministers are busy raiding agriculture funds to plug gaps in the country’s finances, which they have badly mismanaged over the years.

“The First Minister doesn’t have his problems to seek right now but if he can’t tell farmers this week when their money will be returned to the agriculture budget, disappearing WhatsApp messages may seem like the least of his worries.”

Fiona Grahame