Scottish Crofting Federation THE CROFTER rooted in our communities SCF is the only organisation solely dedicated to campaigning for crofters and fighting for the future of crofting NOVEMBER 2017 Number 113 Conflict between two endangered species: crofters and geese © Martin Benson – Skye HE UISTS HAVE had a problem with wild population returns to its former numbers. crofters on the machair. And the geese seem to geese damaging crops and grazings for The barnacle population in Uist is escalating. be winning.” Tmany years now. Last year it was 4,000, this year 8,000, next SCF has been fighting for the control of wild The main culprit was the greylag but this is year? It has been predicted that if they are not geese on croft land for many years, with a petition now being overtaken by the Greenland barnacle controlled now, crofting will stop within 10 years. in the Scottish Parliament urging the government goose. The greylags were fairly well controlled in The repercussions will last for generations, to not cut the budget, and the goose issue being an adaptive management pilot scheme run by with some of Europe’s finest high nature value regularly brought to the Cross Party Group on SNH but, despite its success, the scheme has farmland, the esteemed machair habitat, being Crofting. This parliamentary group recently wrote closed. Was this a good investment of £294,858 left to degenerate. As SCF chair Russell Smith to cabinet secretary for environment Roseanna public money? Yes, if you look at the success; no, said recently, “We have a conflict between two if the scheme does not continue and the greylag endangered species – barnacle geese and ...Continued on page 3 Scottish upland sheep INSIDE THIS ISSUE • Crofting law support shenanigans consultation HE SCOTTISH UPLAND differential needed for those crofting to actual replacements. • Access to land Sheep Support Scheme our marginal areas. However, the objective could be Tis a very significant The scheme has been very achieved most effectively by paying • Training support mechanism for crofters, lucrative for some though, as the on ewe hoggs retained as breeding introduced as a chance for those SCF highlighted recently, due to replacements or on gimmers taken on Region Three rough grazing to the lack of capping. into the breeding flock. This would • Croft development make up for their distressingly low Some large producers have allow for maintaining flock numbers and diversification basic payments, but the obscure been claiming not only on their in regular ages, or for growing the criteria and fear of reprisals has replacements but on any number flock size. But cynics may say that • Crofting on St Kilda put off many who deserve the of ewe hoggs, the surplus then the Scottish Government is unlikely payment from claiming it. being sold off. This rapidly uses up to take such a bold step which could The recent mixed messages the limited budget, depriving others require more administration. • Good food from Scottish Government over of benefiting from it. This was not Paying on a percentage is a claiming and tagging dates has the intention of the scheme; and it step in the right direction at least • Help when you done nothing to help this; and is appropriate that even NFUS has and should be relatively easy to need it has only emphasised the fact that recognised this and is proposing accommodate. we need to revamp this essential a limit on claims of 20-25% of the However, the payment should …and much more scheme with the potential to pay the breeding flock – roughly equivalent ...Continued on page 2 2 THE CROFTER, NOVEMBER 2017 Message from the chair... Russell Smith confusing activity with progress and that we see some results soon. There is a long list of known failings of the law (The Sump) and it seems obvious to me that we need to get on and correct these so that crofting law works for crofters rather than for lawyers. There is something wrong if an intelligent layperson can’t pick up one document and understand what the law is. On the positive side, the Scottish Government started paying out loans for basic payments in October, which will relieve the pressure for many of us and get money flowing round from crofters to suppliers and local businesses, to the benefit of all. Whilst they are billed as loans they are really just advance payments. I hope you applied for them, as we advised members. Research by the James Hutton O HOW MANY replacement number as normal whilst hoping that designed to suit the industrial Institute suggests that, on average, stock lambs did you keep someone somewhere has a plan for agriculture lobby. Common grazings the move from single farm payments Sthis autumn? the Brexit negotiations? suffer particularly badly from this to basic payments has benefitted the crofting counties. Are you an optimist and kept lots Uncertainty over the next few tendency and that contributes to Also there is good news on the because you think that by the time years along with falling prices for the declining use of grazings and Crofting Commission who seem to you sell their offspring in August old ewes and (at best) stagnant the waste of a valuable resource. be working together and getting on 2019 we will have continuing tariff- lamb prices has kept down good That is one of the things that with the job of regulating our system free access to the EU plus lots cheer at Lairg and, no doubt, other we have pushed for in the SCF which they do on our behalf. We are of good trade deals with other marts round the country. Not much position paper on Brexit that has working with them (and HIE) to get countries to boost exports? Or are there to attract the dynamic young recently been issued to politicians more vacant, absentee and derelict you a pessimist and cut the numbers people that we need to take crofting of all parties in Westminster and crofts back into use to the benefit you kept since you think we will be forward. Holyrood. We will keep campaigning of both crofting townships and the have lost our EU export market due The opportunity with Brexit is on this. wider communities – more people, to high tariffs and have accepted that we can have a support system Elsewhere, the crofting law more activity, more progress. a higher quota of imported New designed in Scotland for Scotland reform consultation moves round We remain the only organisation Zealand lamb. Or are you a realist which might mean that crofting is the country. The team are certainly solely dedicated to campaigning for who hasn’t a clue what is going on built in from the start and not added energetic in covering the crofting crofters and fighting for the future and so have just kept the same as an afterthought to something counties. I hope that they are not of crofting. Scottish upland sheep support shenanigans ...Continued from page 1 be on 30% of breeding flock, on the basis that those on Region Three land will likely have more losses, especially due to predation. 20% would do if you were taking six crops of lambs as lowland farmers might; but most crofters would work to a four or five crop system. To facilitate those with small numbers or building up their flocks, such as new entrants, for those claiming 50 or fewer hoggs the percentage criteria should not apply. There are more issues and the scheme clearly needs to be overhauled. It would be appropriate for government officials to meet with crofters and other upland sheep producers to discuss practicalities and the way forward. © Martin Benson – Isle of Skye www.crofting.org THE CROFTER, NOVEMBER 2017 3 Brexit: brave new world or bananas new world? Free trade fanatics and future for crofting agriculture Like many, writes SCF director Brendan O’Hanrahan in this personal commentary, I have been transfixed by the often-bewildering and sometimes horrifying news and analysis associated with our continuing Brexit thriller and the possibly glorious future that awaits us on the other side of the divorce. HERE HAS RECENTLY been no shortage of Tprojections for the agriculture industry, with a multiplicity of scenarios advanced, advocated and analysed with varying degrees of rigour. Trying to digest all these predictions, I come to both scare you and point to some sunny patches in the © Martin Benson – Waternish, Skye © Martin Benson – Waternish, uplands. Even at this late stage in whole sectors of the already as “more specialised and capable scrapping direct support entirely. negotiations there is a worrying historically-weakened British of competing in global markets”; And our current Pillar II schemes combination of incompetence, industrial economy – with agriculture “Seeking self-sufficiency in food do a very bad job of reaching insouciant apparent delight at ‘no at the top of the vulnerable list. should not be a goal of agricultural crofters. Before this would be deal’ or similar cliff-edge outcomes; The common theme and priority policy,” illustrate how the strengths acceptable there would have to be and salivating at the prospects with these scenarios is to deliver (admittedly not yet sufficiently a radical redesign of these systems, of a promised free trade utopia, a better deal for consumers, and realised) of the products from incorporating a substantial element demonstrated by a sizeable cohort counteract the inflationary trends crofting areas and similar systems of bottom-up or locally-led input for of the UK Government – including unleashed since the referendum, in other parts of upland Britain each area. the likes of Boris Johnson, Liam which of course makes sense in – currently enjoyed by much of The more detailed agronomists’ Fox and, at times, even the DEFRA terms of the populist drive behind the supermarket-shopping public Brexit scenarios showed that sheep secretary, Michael Gove.