This is a subscriber-only article
Scottish hill farmers and crofters met in the Highlands on Friday to discuss their vision for the future of farming in the region against the backdrop of ongoing Brexit negotiations.
No different to the west coast of Ireland, farming in the Highlands is dominated by beef and sheep produced for the store market.
Defra secretary Michael Gove has spoken about public goods derived from agriculture and its role in protecting the environment.
So farmers are taking the opportunity to discuss what the term 'public good' means and what sort of policies have and have not worked in the past.
When headage payments were removed, the number of stock on the hills fell significantly.
“There are less livestock on the hills and getting young people into farming is more and more difficult,” said Donald Cameron, member of the Scottish Parliament.
“The greatest and first public good of farming is the product that we literally bring to the table. It is supporting that that must be key going forward.”
Subsidies
“It is definite that we can’t survive without subsidies. Now is the time to be influencing that,” hill farmer Angus MacFadyen told the conference in Fort William.
“Do we need a Less Favoured Area policy of some sort, a headage payment, environmental payments? If we get out of Europe we need to ensure that all fits WTO rules.
“What are public goods? We keep the countryside open 24/7 for anyone who wants to come here, should we be getting payments for keeping it free of bracken and heather, keeping tick levels down?”
The challenge, as the National Farmers Union of Scotland Policy Director Jonnie Hall pointed out, is finding a policy that works for the uplands as much as it does for the farmers in the east on lowlands.
Rich environment
“We cannot measure what we do in the hills and uplands by the kilos of meat produced,” Hall said. “We will always be marginally at the edge of being financially viable. Environmentally, this is the richest part of the landscape.”
The Scottish Government’s Total Income from Farming figures show that two thirds of farm income in the uplands comes from support payments. But in some cases farmers on the lowlands can make a profit without factoring in support payments at all.
Light lamb
Finding a market for light lambs from the hills is also a problem. But Laurent Vernet from Quality Meat Scotland says it is a case of defining the product and marketing it better.
“The Welsh have been better at promotion and they have taken over the market,” Vernet said. “Now there is another market for this hill lamb, on the export side. The demand almost disappeared with the economic crisis. Markets in Spain, Portugal and Greece. They like light lamb, but they need to be finished on the hill.”
He admitted that depending on Europe alone could be a problem if there is no trade deal between the EU and UK, but that he is “passionate there is a future for hill lamb”.
UK lamb gains access to Saudi Arabia after 20 years
SHARING OPTIONS: