Union group highlight critical farming issues during Holyrood lobbying trip

Politicians and policymakers must bring about a “just transition” to the new agricultural strategy which should reflect the true costs of delivery – and which incentivises the productivity, efficiency, and stewardship required.

That was the message given to Holyrood this week when NFU Scotland conducted a cross-party lobbying trip to the Scottish Parliament in order to highlight the critical issues impacting farmers and crofters.

Vice president Robin Traquair, director of policy Jonnie Hall, and political affairs manager Beatrice Morrice joined president Martin Kennedy in meeting MSPs from Conservative, SNP, Labour and the Liberal Democrat parties.

During the visit, the team covered the need for future funding and future agricultural policy to support active farming and crafting along with issues around food security and input costs.

Pictured from left to right are NFUS vice president Robin Traquair, president Martin Kennedy and policy chief Jonnie Hall outside the Scottish Parliament this week.

Speaking after the meeting Kennedy said: “We were looking to galvanise cross-party recognition and support for the vital role active farming and crofting can play if we are to deliver on food production – first and foremost – as well as tackling climate change and enhancing biodiversity.”

But he stressed that the industry could only deliver on all these fronts if it was enabled to do so via a fully funded and targeted approach to the key element of agricultural support which underpinned the sector.

“This must encompass both direct financial support based on agricultural activity, and conditional support based on practical options that work alongside farming and crofting whilst also recognising and rewarding actions already taken,” he said.

And he said that farmers were willing to knuckle down and get on with the job, calling on politicians and policymakers to do the same and produce a system which would allow a just transition to a new regime which would secure not just food security but also a flourishing environment.

♦ And a similar thought process was echoed at Cereals 22 where speaker after speaker stressed that food security should be as great a focus for the Government as environmental schemes – stressing that a proper agricultural policy was key to achieving this.

Returning to Duxford for the first time since 2018, visitors to the event enjoyed a mix of debate, seminars and demonstrations of the latest ideas and equipment for the arable sector.

De-risking arable production was also under the spotlight – and although good profits were expected in the industry this year, predicting future costs and process was difficult – but the event called upon the government to recognise the importance of fertilisers and other inputs to a farm business and make those markets fit-for-purpose

The event also heard that the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) had once again ruled that the widely used herbicide, glyphosate, should not be re-classified as a cancer risk. The product is currently approved for use in the EU until December 15 this year – but, as in previous years, there has been strong lobbying from environmental groups to have its approval withdrawn.

Any change to the product’s licensing status in Europe would be likely to have implications for its use in the UK.

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