THREE of the 19 young farmers who took part in SAYFC's agri-skills tour to New Zealand in December last year have met up with trustees of the Cameron Travel Trust to discuss the trip, and what it taught them about farming without subsidies.

John Cameron, head of the trust with his wife, Margaret, of Balbuthie Farm, Fife, wanted the tour to look into farming life without subsidies – which were taken away overnight in New Zealand back in 1984 – and discover whether or not Scottish farmers could survive without them.

Mr Cameron explained: "We wanted the group to go to New Zealand and find out how farmers have coped without subsidies, and look at how they have managed to successfully do that, as I believe, post-Brexit, Scotland may also face the loss of farm subsidies, and I want our young farmers to be able to embrace that change, and make a success of it."

The group visited a farm from almost every sector in NZ agriculture, and reported that it had taken both efficiency and determination to survive without subsidies.

Colin Ferguson, 28, of Machers YFC, explained: "New Zealand is a very export driven country, and the lack of subsidy doesn't seem to affect farmers there. Instead, it has pushed them to make better businesses, and make them more resilient."

Catherine Sloan, of Bankfoot JAC, also added: "You would expect the subsidies to have made a huge impact on New Zealand farming, but statistics show that around only 1% of farmers walked away from the industry after the sudden removal of them."

SAYFC's new National Chairman, David Lawrie, of Kinross JAC, added: "Productivity and efficiency on NZ farms was very good, and I think that some Scottish farmers could take note of that, and I think we should consider market demand more, the same way that NZ farmers do, and think about how we can be more efficient, by changing some of our ideas.

"We, as a group, would say that removing subsidies in NZ allowed farmers to differentiate between efficient, and non-efficient farmers, and we think that, generally, it's the more efficient farmers who have survived. However, this did result in the creation of much larger farms, and the loss of the number of farmers working in the industry, which is unfortunate.

"New Zealand is a fantastic place to look at great examples of farming, however they are lacking in some areas, like every industry," added Mr Lawrie. "For example, they commended the UK on its Red Tractor brand, and the fact it is recognised all over the world, particularly in China, and a lot of New Zealand farmers explained that they are lacking in that area, and need to start focusing more on Brand New Zealand."

Mr Lawrie concluded: "Our inability to process milk, and do something with it, compared to New Zealand, which exports a lot of it for milk powder, etc, is what lets the UK down, but, overall, it is not realistic to say, or believe, that Scotland could do the exact same as New Zealand, and create a similar system, for a number of reasons, particularly the huge difference in climate," to which Mr Cameron responded: "Well there is not a whole lot we can do about changing that!"