PROFESSOR JULIE Fitzpatrick, scientific director and chief executive of Scotland's world class livestock disease centre, the Moredun Research Institute, has voiced her concerns over the yearly budget cuts being imposed by the Scottish Government.

“Since I have been at the helm for the past 13 years I have witnessed 12 years of government funding cuts and despite maintaining the staff we have, we haven’t had the funds to bring in new scientists when current staff retire. If it wasn’t for a step up in external income we wouldn’t have survived," she told The Scottish Farmer this week.

Securing future funding for the important research it carries out in the prevention and control of diseases in livestock was now a serious challenge for the institute, she said, with yearly cuts from ScotGov’s £6.45 million support fund, dropping by 5.1% this year alone – despite the Moredun Group helping to support the red meat sector, which contributes approximately £2 billion per annum to the Scottish economy and alongside 50,000 jobs.

Furthermore, of the total £13 million income generated by Moredun a year, 20% comes from EU funding, raising concerns for the future of the institute post-Brexit.

Professor Fitzpatrick did have some good cheer, however, welcoming the recent news from Prime Minister Theresa May concerning the rights of EU citizens to remain in the UK after Brexit – a crucial development given that 14% of the staff at Moredun come from the EU.

“We are reassured by recent remarks made by Theresa May and are fortunate that we are eligible for funding for now," said Prof Fitzpatrick. "Looking forward, for us to maintain our work it needs to be relevant for our sector and we need to make sure the public are aware of the importance of the work we do in disease research and prevention in livestock farming, which is critical to the management of land and the environment in Scotland."

She added that the newly agreed collaboration with SRUC, bringing together the 'complementary expertise and capacity' of the two organisations in livestock health, welfare, and production in support of Scottish and global food security and food safety, would hopefully be a positive step towards raising the profile of the work Moredun carry out in the field of animal health and thus help secure future funding for the organisation.

“SRUC are a big organisation and are well known and respected amongst the farming community and the wider public," said Prof Fitzpatrick. "Our association with SRUC will hopefully strengthen our profile as Brexit dawns and future funding becomes a growing concern.

“Cross-disciplinary collaborative teams involving Moredun and SRUC colleagues will be established over the coming months in areas of strength, such as biosecurity, food security and SMART farming. These teams will maximise opportunities to leverage new sources of investment from Scottish, UK, EU and global funders with the intention of sharing expertise, facilities, equipment and resources where appropriate.

“One of the first benefits of this closer working partnership is that the SAC Consulting veterinary team, based on the Bush Estate near Edinburgh, will relocate to a shared laboratory facility at Moredun during 2018. Building on the existing long-term relationship between the SAC Consulting veterinary team, our own surveillance teams and those of APHA, this will create a centralised veterinary surveillance hub for the whole of Scotland and the UK.”