DEFRA'S 'REVOLVING door' has been turning again as part of this week's shake-up of the Westminster Coalition Cabinet.
Prime Minister David Cameron has undertaken a wide-reaching reshuffle in what has been described as a "cull of the middle-aged white men" — and Defra Secretary Owen Paterson, who has served a contentious two years in the post after taking over from Caroline Spelman in 2012, fell victim to that cull in favour of former Education Minister Liz Truss.
The fluid nature of Westminster's farming and environment portfolio is something that hasn't gone unnoticed by Nigel Miller, president of the National Farmers Union for Scotland.
Congratulating Ms Truss, he added: "This will be the third Secretary of State in place since I took up the union presidency in 2011. For a long-term industry like farming, the revolving door at Defra makes building relationships and driving consistent policy challenging, but such changes appear to be the nature of modern politics."
Mr Paterson did rile Scottish farmers after deciding to spread the recent EU convergence cash uplift, intended to help 'converge' Scotland's low farming area payments with their better-paid neighbours, across the whole of the UK.
Recently, though, he has been credited with helping shift policy positions to open up new CAP options for Scotland during negotiations.
"Importantly, he has challenged the EU's views on nonsensical greening requirements, something that our growers welcome," said Mr Miller. "He also showed real courage in tackling difficult policy issues such as the bovine TB crisis in parts of England. Without robust action, this is a disease that still casts a shadow over Scotland's bTB-free status."
While his decisions to push ahead with the cull may have pleased affected farmers, it did not make him popular with conservationists.
The minister had also advocated the use of neonicotinoid pesticides at a time when the EU was proposing to ban their use over concerns they were contributing to the decline of bee populations.
Similarly, Mr Paterson's unyielding belief in GM crops did little to endear him to the green lobby, with Friends of the Earth's executive director Andy Aitkens describing him as "the worst Environment Secretary the UK has had for decades".
Mr Aitkens added: "Mr Paterson has wilfully ignored scientific evidence on climate change, championed pesticide firms instead of bees and massively under-invested in flood defences, leaving thousands of households at risk of future flooding."
For in-depth news and views on Scottish agriculture, see this Friday's issue of The Scottish Farmer or visit www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk
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