Dear Sir,

It was with great disappointment that I read the anonymous letter published on page 10 of last week’s Scottish Farmer (“Looking at SEPA and QMS”).

Penned by a writer who describes himself as a “a moaning old farmer”, this letter contained a number of glaring inaccuracies I would like to address.

First, he claims that Quality Meat Scotland has “directors with stupid job titles, eg. knowledge transfer, brand manager director” and “eating quality director”.

While knowledge transfer, brand management, and eating quality are important parts of the body charged with promoting Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb, and Specially Selected Pork, I can assure you that no QMS director has any such job title.

He went on to write that “earlier in the year I think they (QMS) were telling us how to grow grass”.

QMS does support the great work being done by GB Grass Check, which is based on the measurement of grass growth on 50 farms around the UK, and in partnership with three research organisations (CIEL, Rothamsted, and AFBI), AHDB, and HCC in Wales, seed breeders, and fertiliser companies. Farmers find it very useful as it provides weekly updates on grass growth - kg DM/ha/day, crude protein, and energy (ME - MJ/kg DM). The free information service was borne out of industry demand to better understand grassland quality and was not something done on the whim of the partners.

Our “publicity stunts abroad” that the letter mentions are, presumably, related to our attendance at international trade shows such as last year’s SIAL food fair, where around £14 million of new business was achieved as a result of QMS hosting eight Scottish companies in Paris.

This criticism accompanies his next statement that QMS “should be profiling our beef, lamb, and pork in Britain”, which I suggest is countered by the fact that our newly launched Christmas TV advert and fully integrated digital campaign celebrating Scotch meat will reach almost 90% of Scotland’s adult population between now and Hogmanay.

It wasn’t entirely clear to what or whom he was referring at the end of the letter when he wrote “Our farmer representatives are too few and perhaps not robust enough in defending the producers, the farmers”.

However, I thought it was worth pointing out that half of the QMS Board, myself included, are working farmers, with others representing all parts of the red meat supply chain.

The one thing we all have in common is our passion for this industry and, while we are happy to accept and respond to constructive criticism, we cannot ignore anonymous letters which contain more fiction than fact.

As Scottish Farmer readers will be aware, we are busy holding a series of industry workshops on the length and breadth of the country, further details of which can be found in the “Red Meat Industry News” section.

If you are unable to attend, I would encourage you to sign up for our industry webinar, details of which will be announced shortly.

In the meantime, I hope this letter has helped clarify a few things.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Rowell, Chair, Quality Meat Scotland.