SOME 300 Scottish beef farmers are in danger of missing out on their participation in the Beef Efficiency Scheme because their calving details have not yet been submitted.

Rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing this week urged the farmers to complete the recording of any outstanding data as soon as possible.

“Farmers and crofters who participate in the scheme had until midnight on July 15 to enter the data on the database for the period January 1 to June 1, 2017," noted Mr Ewing. “So far over 1400 businesses have completed their calving data requirements.

“But there are still 300 BES participants to complete their calving data recording and I am keen that they do so. There are no immediate penalties for having missed the July 15 deadline, but there could be an impact on the next stage of the scheme," he said.

“We all want BES to work and work well. The scheme will provide valuable learning on key issues of animal well-being and climate change which we can take into future policy. I understand the processes are complex and are proving difficult for some to complete. But there is help and guidance available on our website and through area offices."

Scottish Beef Association chairman Neil McCorkindale commented: “Considering the negativity that continues to surround the scheme, the figures are better than it would have seemed a couple of months ago.

“It would seem that when it became clear there was no possibility of re-inventing the scheme, a lot of beef farmers, including myself, decided to go with what it was and got their calving data in.

“The scheme, initially, was not well presented," said Mr McCorkindale. "There were problems with tags etc and it just did not seem to catch the imagination of farmers. The fact that so many beef farmers considered they were already taking efficiency measures and did not register to join the scheme sums up the early feelings of it.

“The figures from Scottish Government, while disappointing, are better than expected at one stage. It would be interesting to see what percentage of the Scottish breeding herd they represent,” he added.

In his statement, Mr Ewing noted that, while there were 300 beef farms dragging their feet on submissions, an equal number had been keen enough to get in early, as the total so far included 300 businesses who completed their data recording by June 9 to benefit from ScotGov's offer of an early selection to get early delivery of tissue tags.

"We were aiming to deliver all tags before the end of August, but I can now confirm that we expect to issue tissue tags to all participants who qualified for the early selection by the end of this week," said the cabinet secretary.