An urgent meeting to agree how emergency EU farm funding should be split within the UK has been called for by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead. The move comes after the UK was awarded €36.1m (£26.5m) of agricultural aid - the third largest allocation in all of Europe out of the €500m (£367m) package that is mostly targeted at milk producers.
Details of the funding package were confirmed by the European Commission at an informal meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
Speaking from Brussels, Mr Lochhead said: "Scottish farmers are dealing with the double whammy of volatile markets and the impact of very poor weather conditions earlier this year, with some parts of the country experiencing their wettest summer for over a century.
"In this time of need, it is imperative that Scotland's farmer's get a fair share of the EU's emergency funding. The settlement should take into account the stark challenges Scottish agriculture is currently facing as well as the fact that recent UK negotiations have already left Scottish farmers with the lowest Common Agricultural Policy payment rates in the whole of Europe."
One method of distributing the money that is understood to be under consideration by Defra (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) is to allocate it on the basis of milk quota held at 31 March 2015. That would be simple to administrate and could be worth around 0.173p per litre, or about £1700 for a 1 million litre quota.
Meanwhile, the latest GDT (Global Dairy Trade) auctions held on Tuesday saw the GDT price index rise 16.5 per cent on the previous sale. That's the third consecutive rise in prices since the index reached its lowest point in the last 10 years on August 4th.
Biggest movers on the day were whole milk powder that rose 20.6 per cent, skimmed milk powder up by 17 per cent, butter up 13.3 per cent and cheddar up by 10.7 per cent.
Market round-up
Messrs Craig Wilson Ltd sold 1715 prime lambs in Newton Stewart yesterday to a top of £84 per head and 168p per kg to average 147p (+2p on the week).
The 601 cast sheep forward saw ewes sell to £101.50 for Texels, Mules to £74.50 and Blackfaces to £64.50.
C&D Auction Marts Ltd sold 6091 store lambs at their weekly sale in Longtown yesterday. Top prices and averages for selected breeds: Suffolks to £60.50 and averaged £52.97 (+87p on the week); Texels £64 and £52.70 (+£1.14); Greyfaces £53.50 and £46.08 (-25p); Hill Cheviots £55 and £50.71 for 2352 (+£4.88); Blackfaces £51 and £43.76 for 1058 (+£6.56).
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