Call for aid as snow brings down farm buildings

THE long cold spell is hitting farmers hard, with reports from all over Scotland of damage to farm buildings and increasing difficulties in feeding livestock.

Yesterday, the National Beef Association appealed directly to cabinet secretary Richard Lochhead for a national emergency fund to be created.

And last night, NFU Scotland stepped in with a number of measures aimed at mitigating the problems now being faced by the industry.

Looking out onto his farm buildings, one of which has already collapsed under the weight of snow, Tom Johnston, of Cottown, Huntly, said he had never seen as much snow in his 30 years of farming.

His demolished building had been little more than a decade old built to modern standards but proved unable to cope with the extraordinary falls of snow this past week in the North-east.

His experience has been far from unique, with one estate in the area having no fewer than 13 buildings already destroyed and a number of others looking unstable under the strain. Some of the buildings had kept livestock and in one case a number of cattle died.

Similar stories of damage to buildings are reported in both Perthshire and the borders, both areas that have been badly affected by heavy snowfalls without the normal wind that sweeps the snow from roofs.

Johnston said there was little farmers could do other than hope for either a thaw or a strong wind to blow some of the snow off. He reckoned it would be far too dangerous for anyone to go onto roofs that are already under strain.

The other worry now facing farmers is getting supplies onto farms.

Johnston said there were problems in getting fuel and feedstuffs up roads that are under deep snow. In some areas, fuel deliveries are running up to three weeks behind ordering.

Andrew Roger, of Stobswood, near Duns, has seen his buildings suffer from the heavy snow. "One hay shed has already gone down, a straw shed is buckled and the cattle court is iffy," he said.

Another aspect of the cold spell has been that stock are going through twice as much hay and fodder as they normally eat as they cannot get down to the grass.

David Mitchell, of Pairney, Auchterarder, said: "Unless the weather eases, there will be problems in getting feed onto farms and also for some farms to get through the winter with their stocks of fodder."

He highlighted the need to keep unfrozen drinking water supplied to stock as adding to the length of time being taken to look after cattle and sheep in this weather.

"It is just non stop feeding," said Jacqueline Neill, of Upper Nisbet, Jedburgh, who said that even a normally simple job of removing net wrap from big bales was difficult if the hard frosty conditions.

Peter McDairmid from Shenlarich, Lawers, Perthshire, was another whose daily routine is now dominated by keeping water troughs de-frosted, although he said the lack of wind also came with a blessing – that snow had not drifted, which can often lead to the loss of hill sheep.

Robin Gawn, NFU area secretary based in Perth, was concerned that farmers might not know the full extent of damage caused by the hard weather as any unoccupied cottages might have suffered burst pipes if the water had not been drained off.

Kim Haywood, director of the NBA, said they had submitted a request for emergency cash from the government to deal with the consequences of collapsed cattle sheds.

The emergency relief system would ensure that welfare and economic problems created by housed stock suddenly being exposed to winter weather could be quickly overcome.

Haywood said: "Damage caused by natural disasters like flood and drought regularly qualify for emergency relief and the association has asked Mr Lochhead to take advantage of his position as Cabinet secretary and secure the release of some of the Scottish Government's adversity funds to cover extreme snow damage."

NFU Scotland said last night it was in the process of establishing local helplines to address the issues. The union hopes to be able to put farmers who have lost livestock accommodation in touch with neighbours who have spare capacity in their buildings.

Farmers are also being encouraged to continue sharing fuel with neighbours. The union is also trying to identify farms that need special caterpillar-track vehicles, such as those used by the Forestry Commission, to access stranded animals on hill ground.