Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced that an independent advisor on tenant farming is to be appointed by the Scottish Government.
The short term role will be created as an interim measure until legislation can be brought forward to establish a Tenant Farming Commissioner with statutory powers - one of the main recommendations of the recent Agricultural Holdings Legislation Review.
Mr Lochhead said: "A vibrant and healthy tenant farming sector is crucial for the future of Scottish agriculture and food production. To achieve this, positive and productive tenant and landlord relationships are key.
"Significant progress building a constructive approach was made during the Agricultural Holdings Legislation Review. We must not lose the momentum and go back to the way things were, and the industry is keen to have a Tenant Farming Commissioner in post as soon as possible.
"As this will require legislation to be brought forward, I have therefore decided to appoint in the interim an independent advisor on tenant farming, to promote co-operation and find common ground among industry bodies on proposed areas for change in the sector. Work is underway to identify a suitable candidate."
Market round-up
Lawrie & Symington Ltd held a show and sale of store cattle in Lanark on Tuesday when the championship was awarded to a Limousin heifer from Messrs T Laird & Son, Sunnyside, Carbello that scaled 476kg and sold for £1310. The reserve ticket went to Mr R Orr, Lawhead, Tarbrax for a Limousin bullock that weighed 476kg and fetched £1245.
The 371 heifers sold averaged £875.37 per head or 225p per kg, while 444 beef-bred bullocks levelled at £1033.16 or 241p. Twenty-one dairy-bred bullocks averaged £810.71 or 176p.
Messrs Craig Wilson Ltd sold 551 prime hoggs in Newton Stewart yesterday to a top of £90per head and 213.3p per kg to average 184.8p (-10.2p on the week).
There was also a small show of 91 cast sheep forward when ewes sold to £116 for Texels and £87 for Blackfaces.
The Cumberland and Dumfriesshire Farmers Mart sold 21 prime heifers in Dumfries yesterday to a top of 232.5p and an average of 208p, while a prime bullock fetched 206.5p.
There were 65 OTM cattle presented in the rough ring when beef cows averaged 129.8p and dairy cows levelled at 100.1p.
The firm also sold 664 prime hoggs to a top of £96 and 247p to average 187.9p (+0.9p).
The 189 cast sheep forward saw heavy ewes sell to £133.50 for Texels and average £104.28, while light ewes peaked at £93.50 for Blackfaces and levelled at £66.33.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article