We are now years into the beef efficiency scheme and we are yet to get any meaningful information on it. I have been told by the Government that something should be available later this year, with meetings to devise this plan happening in the coming weeks.

This comes after I have been asking the Scottish Government and SRUC since November for an update on what the data has shown.

This is well beyond when farmers should have an update on the data they have been gathering. It is a travesty if schemes like these are boiled down to farmers doing the minimum to receive cash to provide revenue support for their farm. If farms need direct support then provide it. Once outside Europe we need to have clearer objectives in schemes.

The scheme needs to open up so that farmers and advisers can get to grips with the data to bring about some meaningful conclusions

The scheme had the aspiration to set the foundations for improved cattle breeding for generations. However, we are more than halfway through and lots of information has gone in but too little has come out. The scheme needs to open up so that farmers and advisers can get to grips with the data to bring about some meaningful conclusions.

Under no circumstances can farmers be kept in the dark any longer than necessary. I urge the Government to open the information to farmers with conclusions to improve the cattle sector. The alternative is to push back cattle breeding in Scotland at the very moment we can least afford it.