Stephen Jardine: Scottish farmers need our support

But while the rest of us remove a layer and enjoy the first rays of spring sunshine, for our farmers the weather continues to have grim repercussions.

The president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland has been on a tour of the worst-affected areas to assess the impact of the recent freeze.

Across Dumfries and Galloway, South Ayrshire, Arran and Kintyre the NFUS estimate thousands of lambs and ewes have been lost. This week, live sheep were still being dug out from snow drifts in Galloway, nearly two weeks after the blizzards. The true extent of the impact has still to emerge.

For farming families dedicated to raising and nurturing livestock, burying those that die at birth is the bleakest part of the job. It is grim for them, but also a major concern for the rest of us as the price of Scottish lamb this year is likely to rise to reflect the drop in supply.

Jim Fairlie farms nearly 2,000 sheep at Logiealmond near Perth and is currently in the thick of lambing. Last week, the Scottish Government had to provide all-terrain track machines to allow him get feed to his flock on far-flung hillsides

On a brief break from his round-the-clock responsibilities, he told me of his fears in the light of the recent weather. “The Scottish sheep industry and Scottish sheep are accustomed to snow, but the timing and intensity of this spell has been incredibly destructive. This, coupled with the previous year’s very wet summer – which resulted in failed fodder crops and poor-quality silage – meant that pregnant ewes were already battling to maintain condition.

“Even after they were brought into the lambing shed to give birth, they still struggled to cope. As a consequence, lots of ewes have died in the shed. The other bit that people won’t know about is how this has affected the ewes ability to produce milk. So, even if they live and then produce lambs, they are often struggling to rear them.”

The NFUS warns the crunch time will come later in the year when farmers will have fewer lambs to take to market, blowing a hole in their cash flow. Consumers will be the next to suffer as prices inevitably rise.

Add in a failure to collect around 800,000 litres of milk during the frozen Easter and the effect that will then have on cheese production plus the fact that for some arable producers, planting of vegetables and potatoes is running up to four weeks late, and it is bleak picture at what should be an optimistic time of year.

As consumers, we have an important role to play in this by keeping the faith. Scottish farmers have never needed our support more than they do now, so keep that in mind when you shop.