Leaders of the Scottish livestock industry held a crisis meeting with Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, yesterday to try to put together a compensation package for Scottish farmers facing financial collapse in the wake of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The move follows on from Westminster's determination to ignore the plight of Scottish farmers while offering a £12m aid package to farmers in England.
Speaking after the meeting, Lochhead said: "The Scottish Government will not stand idly by and watch our livestock sector go into meltdown.
"It is hugely disappointing that the UK Government continues to ignore the united calls from Scotland and accept that they are legally and morally responsible to fund schemes implemented as a direct result of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, which was, ironically, created by the UK Government's own laboratory".
NFU Scotland estimates that Scottish livestock farmers, and that includes those producing beef, dairy and pigs as well as sheep, have lost about £50m as a result of the foot-and-mouth disruption to their markets.
The crux of the crisis is how to save Scotland's flock of three million ewes as financially stretched and disillusioned sheep farmers give up and sell their flocks Jim McLean, NFUS president, said: "We need to save the infrastructure in the sheep industry, upon which thousands of jobs depend. Movement restrictions have caused huge welfare problems and the subsequent price collapse has left many of our members facing ruin.
"We have sheep farmers sending us details of individual losses running into tens of thousands of pounds. That is set against their average income last year of just over £4000."
One possible way of getting compensation to hill farmers would be through the less-favoured area support scheme (LFASS) that is due to be paid by the end of the year. It is paid to farmers on poorer land in the hills and uplands that comprise about 80% of Scotland and is worth about £60m.
An increase of 30% has been mentioned, but the scheme has the disadvantage of also compensating beef farmers who have not been so badly affected, as well as excluding sheep farmers not eligible for LFASS.
A more favoured and specific method of targeting sheep farmers would be to make a payment on the number of breeding ewes recorded on each farm in March on the Integrated Administration Control System claim form that farmers have to complete by May 15 every year.
A figure widely quoted recently for such a payment is £10 per breeding ewe and could deliver £30m. That method has the advantage of compensating most sheep farmers.
Such figures may be justified against the losses incurred, but Lochhead will have his work cut out negotiating a meaningful budget from his cabinet colleagues at their meeting today against the background of this year's tight financial settlement from Westminster.
