SIR, – I was surprised when selling fat lambs at a large Cumbrian market that only us peasants, north of the Border, are required to electronically tag our lambs destined for slaughter.

Our English cousins don’t need to go to this expense and can get away with a cheap 9p tag. This puts my own business at an instant £4000/yr tagging cost disadvantage over a farmer selling the same number of lambs in England or Wales, and that is before the significant extra haulage expenses carried by Scottish producers shipping sheep south for slaughter.
Speaking to the buyers, it appears most English abattoirs – where the majority of the Scottish lamb crop is processed – have not even bothered to install automatic EID tag readers.
We are supposed to have a level playing field in Europe. Our Scottish farming leaders and politicians cannot even get us a level playing field in the UK. Perhaps they were too busy negotiating the £69 winter fallen stock disposal subsidy on my behalf. Thanks for that!  
 
Ashley Thom,
The Mark,
Creetown