Supermarket lamb let-down!
BRITAIN'S two biggest supermarket chains have been accused of backsliding on their commitment to sourcing locally produced lamb.
BES – should you stay or should you go?
DESPITE this week's seemingly positive changes to the administration of the Beef Efficiency Scheme, questions are still being asked over the number of farmers choosing to leave rather than put up with its demands.
Shetland meeting focuses on lambing preparation
OPPORTUNITIES to improve scanning percentages and lamb survival rates will be among the key discussion areas at the next meeting of the Shetland Monitor Farm on Saturday, April 1.
Not all doom and gloom for Scottish farmland
FARMLAND on market in Scotland, both in terms of the level of land being launched to the market and the level of buyer interest, is active, according to Savills
Andy takes new role at Crown Estate
A NEW head of property has been appointed by the Crown Estate's Scotland. Andy Wells moves over from his role as head of countryside.
Head sporting estates on the up
SCOTLAND’S estates are continuing to generate tourism, employment and economic benefits thanks to the popularity of world-class country sports.
Hard lesson of a tractor fall
EVEN the most safety conscious farmers can have accidents, as we learn from Ian Argo, an arable farmer at Auchcairnie Farm, Laurencekirk. A dislocated knee cap and severed tendons were the unexpected consequence of coming out of a tractor the wrong way and falling.
NSA rejects lynx invite
SHEEP farmers have turned down an invitation to help design the proposed lynx re-introduction programme. Refusing an offer of a place on Lynx UK's project advisory group, National Sheep Association chief executive Phil Stocker said: “Our understanding is the project advisory group will design the trial that will only go ahead if Lynx UK is successful in gaining a licence from Natural England and/or Scottish Natural Heritage. "We feel it is inappropriate for NSA to provide guidance to Lynx UK ahead of that licence application, as we remain opposed to any pilot taking place. “NSA does not feel the meeting with Lynx UK adequately responded to the concerns of sheep farmers, which are not limited solely to the predation of lynx on sheep. We continue to have genuine concerns about the wider impact lynx would have on the delicate balance of food production, environment and rural communities in the countryside, as well as implications for animal welfare and disease control. We remain opposed to the pilot and do not agree with Lynx UK that we should help design the trial in order to determine the criteria by which it would be deemed a success or failure." Mr Stocker said that, in the event of an application for a licence being submitted, NSA would expect to be involved, to make clear to the relevant licensing authority the "many reasons" why the UK is unsuitable for this pilot and the conditions that would need to be in place in the unlikely event of a licence being granted. "Lynx UK has suggested involvement in its Project Advisory Group would be the only way to air these views, but NSA will continue to use any mechanism we choose to make our concerns as widely heard as possible,” he said. "It is unacceptable to threaten the welfare of sheep and the livelihood of farmers with this scheme and it is NSA’s aim to ensure Lynx UK and its supporters cannot continue to ignore the vital role of sheep in underpinning countryside management and supporting rural communities.”
