Farmers who are rearranging overdrafts won’t be surprised by the jump in borrowings in the Scottish agricultural industry.

I speak to lots of farmers who have seen their arrangement fees double over the last few years. While the sums involved won’t make or break a business, it is an added weight which farmers could do without. These are fees for farmers who have not changed their business and need to rearrange their overdraft or loan to keep the facility.

The frustrating part is that these businesses are often quite profitable, adding dynamism while driving the industry forward.

Decisions on finance are increasingly taken by people in banks who have never met the business, with centralised top-down directives opening or restricting flows of cash depending on variables far removed from farming.

As Brexit offers stormy waters ahead, it will be sad if banks don’t do all they can to support fledgling and growing businesses. There is a role for Government to ensure that small- and medium-sized businesses like farms are treated fairly by financiers. Out of Europe, we will need businesses which actually produce things more than ever.

Top tups

Last week’s Kelso tup was as popular as ever, drawing buyers from Oxford to Orkney.

The demand from commercial producers was there, with many good tups going for between £300-£600/head. The top prices might grab the headlines, but it’s the affordable, quality rams which drive the sale.

The elite are driving the genetics, however most farmers are bound by the fat and store trade, and cannot pay much more than the value of 10 finished lambs for a sire.

Good selection

Speaking to farmers on the day, they enjoy Kelso because you can see such a selection of tups for sale and compare them with their peers.

An improved tup can increase profitability per lamb to the region of £3/head, according to AHDB, so it’s worth careful consideration for farmers looking to progress their flock.

While estimated breeding values (EBVs) have a part to play, nothing beats seeing the tup live to check if it is structurally sound to do the job.

The quality of cross-tups at Kelso was high, perhaps due to cross tup breeders being able to pick rams for sale from a wider pool of progeny. Kelso offers a chance to see the full scope, with all shapes and sizes, and that’s just the buyers.

Difficult system

The Cabinet Secretary made a speech in Parliament assuring farmers that they will receive a loan for 90% of their 2017 claimed BPS this year. It looks like a monumental effort is being put into making the computer system work. Once out of the EU we could be free to devise our own, but after the hundreds of millions spent on it, the Government may be reluctant to scrap it. This fiasco may be tough to shake off.

Women in farming

The Women in Agriculture task force met for the first time since it was announced at the Royal Highland Show. With that in mind, Farmers Journal Scotland has started a new series exploring this Scottish Government initiative. We are pleased to welcome the Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing’s opinion in the first part of the series this week (page 15).