Farm minister coy on extent of aid package
Farm minister coy on extent of aid package
By Shelley Wright
BRITAINS farmers could see another injection of government cash in the coming month, president of the Scottish NFU, Jim Walker, believes.
But Ross Finnie, Scottish farm minister, refused to be drawn on how much might be made available and to which sectors.
"The two sectors clearly under the greatest pressure are dairy and pigs, I am absolutely clear of that. Very difficult and very delicate negotiations are under way that clearly involve a significant price tag," he told the 300 delegates at the Scottish NFU agm in Aviemore.
He would give no further details, asking farmers to accept that he was fighting for them to try and secure an aid package.
But despite his hopes for additional aid, which would provide a much-needed boost, Mr Walker went on to tell delegates that, at the end of the day, farmers themselves would still have to find solutions to the industrys long-term problems.
"Unless we look to ourselves, and try to find solutions, we are not going to be secure or sustainable in the future," he said.
Adding value to Scottish farm produce was essential. The lamb produced and killed in Scotland, for example, was all sent from the country in carcass form for further processing.
Accepting that farmers had already worked hard in recent years to cut production costs, more could be done. He revealed that the Scottish NFU would, in the coming weeks, start publishing lists of input prices from different suppliers across the UK on its Internet site. That would allow producers to source inputs at the cheapest price possible.
And he threw down a challenge. Those who wanted to look to the future and seek new opportunities would be welcome in the Scottish NFU. Those, particularly in the dairy sector, who continued to harp back about everything that had gone wrong, would not.
Mr Finnie said he was determined that the Scottish Executive would work in partnership with the farming industry.
"I think the farming industry needs to be clear about what it can and will deliver and how it proposes to do it. I am willing to lead that process, but it needs your participation and support. I want to do this in partnership," he said.
Scottish farm minister Ross Finnie wants a partnership with farmers.