LIFE FOR farmers and crofters on Scotland’s western isles is ‘ten times worse’ due to poor ferry services

agricultural businesses need reliable access to the mainland to function, and according to those affected, an ageing fleet and greater hesitancy to sail in rough seas is creating havoc.

Despite the Scottish Government investing around £2billion in the ferries since 2007, and a planned £580m of future funds for the service, problems persist – and from Lewis in the North to Arran in the south, island agriculture is being strangled by intermittent sailings and last minute cancellations.

“It is a shambles at the moment," said chair of the Scottish Crofting Federation, Donald MacKinnon. “We have an ageing fleet and it is a fact we cannot rely on there being a ferry service. It is a totally unacceptable situation.

“The real problem is there is no spare capacity in the fleet. They cannot back-fill when something goes wrong. Holding marts and sales on the islands is getting to be a real challenge. There was the sale on Lochmaddy which was postponed a lot last year – it puts buyers and hauliers off coming to the islands.

“You have the potential of 4000 sheep at the mart in Lewis with no sale going ahead. There is no quick fix either and no signs it will get better. It is already a challenge, crofting on the islands, and this just makes it ten times worse.”

Dingwall Marts auctioneer Luke Holmes agreed that putting on an island sale had become a tricky business: “The intermittent ferry service makes it very difficult for hauliers at busy times of the year. They cancelled so many services last year that we had to rearrange the sale date three or four times. Livestock was being left on the island longer than was needed, which is expensive for farmers.

“Running the sale is proving very difficult, near enough nigh on impossible at times. This year we have brought our sales forward to make it easier to get on and off the islands.”

A CalMac spokeswoman said: “Our operations and commercial teams have this year, as we do every year, worked with the auction marts and their specialist hauliers on all associated logistics required to enable the regular calendar of sales to be completed.

"While unfortunately sometimes weather or a vessel outage may disrupt plans, generally the auction mart events take place regularly and in the routine succession of the agricultural year, and in CalMac’s operating calendar.”

Further south, David Henderson who farms at Kilpatrick farm on Arran, said: “The ferry service is diabolical, the whole system is overstretched. It has been getting worse and worse for the last two or three years. The scary bit is I can't see it getting any better, if anything it could get worse. In the middle of May you shouldn’t be worried about boats not sailing.

“If one boat breaks down, which with the age of the boats is quite common, then it is mayhem. Our second boat is currently out of action so we will have a reduced service until at least the weekend. We only just restarted a two ferry service a fortnight ago after the main boat’s engine blew up and was out of action for three weeks.

“The age of the fleet means that stoppages like these are all too common. It is not the Calmac staff’s fault, I know they do all they can," stressed Mr Henderson. "We have a good relationship with the general managers at Calmac who do help put animal movements on the priority list. So if there is a boat running livestock can get on it.

“But when the Scottish Government introduced the RET (road equivalent tariffs) the fares dropped like a stone and the service couldn’t cope with the number of passengers. If you go online to book a 7am ferry you’ll be lucky to get something within a fortnight – it was never like this before.

“There is also a growing hesitancy to sail in all but calm seas. After a £30m upgrade to the pier it means that if we have an 18 to 20mph wind then the boat cannot land. This makes it hard for farmers selling stock off the island. Arran farmers are selling their calves a week or two early rather than later. I have seen some selling on March 17 instead of April.

"You cannot afford to have calves missing sales and keeping shed space when you are about to calve. You never leave without an overnight bag in case you don’t get back, and we are only a short crossing compared to most other islands.

“The blame is 100% the Scottish Government for not investing in the boats and bad handling of the ferry contracts," said Mr Henderson. "The boats are knackered. If in 2015 we had ordered two smaller boats instead of the planned big single one we would be sorted by now.”

Transport Scotland said it recognised the impact the ferry service had on people’s 'decision on whether to live and work on the islands, and impacts upon the sustainability of the island communities themselves': "These human impacts are at the heart of Scottish Ministers’ commitment to continued investment in ferry services across Scotland.

“During any disruptions CalMac will prioritise sailings to ensure delivery of essential supplies and export of island products, supporting island and remote economies. We continue to charge CalMac Ferries Ltd. and Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. with seeking potential second hand tonnage to improve operational resilience on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry routes. The previous charters of MV Arrow and recent purchase of the MV Utne (now MV Loch Frisa) are evidence of this ongoing commitment to improve and support the existing fleet."