Off-shoring carbon will be a giant own goal

The bad news part, for some , is that the Greens are going into bed with the SNP. The good news part is that Nicola Sturgeon has killed off any hope of an independent Scotland, because there is no way in this wide world, that these people are going to encourage rural Scotland to vote for this bunch of bed-mates.

I am afraid Nicola has made the biggest blunder of her leadership for Scotland’s prosperity. Apart from rural Scotland’s population, I think we can also include the business sector, in saying it will be an end to the SNP dream! If the brains at Westminster had any sense, they would offer the devolved nations 'Devo-Max' and that would be the end of Independence talk for several generations!

In a statement on TV, the Governor of the Bank of England said he was expecting inflation to remain around 2%. I have to admit I do not often disagree with such learned people, but this time he does not seem to be living in the real world.

I see rampant inflation as the biggest threat to the economy, with Brexit being almost entirely responsible. Just take the haulage sector alone – 20,000 lorry drivers returned to Eastern Europe at least, and due to unthinking government officials shutting the door to virtually all European workers.

Can anyone name a sector that is not short of staff because thousands have gone home to Europe and have no chance of coming back because of the draconian regulations excluding them from the UK? Can we call it another political blunder by politicians?

Recently, I covered a significant area of Scotland and a little of England. Even on a first time railway journey from Airdrie to Edinburgh's Waverley station, I witnessed thousands of acres that could be planted with trees. There were no sheep or cattle that I could see grazing the many acres we passed and within a few days of this trip I heard about at least three excellent livestock farms that were going to be planted with trees.

Could it be we will soon be seeing good arable farms going into trees and then the question will be raised about how are we going to feed our population? By then, it will be too late, as it takes around 40 years before these trees will be harvested.

Having said that, if the livestock numbers in Scotland, which peaked at 2.78m in 1974, continue their decline which saw them reach a 60-year low at 1.71m head last year, in 76 years time we will have no cattle left to graze Scotland’s green pastures. Is the future of Scotland going to be a tree covered land with a population of vegans?

The massive bonus is ... I will not be here to see it!

So, to see where all the cattle are going to replace Scotland’s demise turn to YouTube to view a massive new dairy unit being constructed in China for 100,000 dairy cows, all on one site! I do not know how far they are carting the feed, or hauling the slurry, but it is good for the climate as they are processing all the milk on site, into product before delivery to customers. Will this be a giant own goal by our politicians?

I had reason to travel down the M74 and part of the M6, where I passed 18 timber trucks, only to count 17 which appeared to be identical cut loads, heading north. Now I have no doubt the timber lads will have a reason why so much diesel and tyres are being burned up hauling raw timber north and south – or do they?

They are easy to see as the timber trucks as they are uncovered, but what about all those curtain-siders and fully enclosed, some refrigerated, going up and down our motorways, burning up diesel at five miles per gallon, not to mention other costs.

Maybe there is a fair bit of inefficiency going on that could be improved and that might just include our beef sector, especially when one studies the supermarket shelves to note where the beef is slaughtered and packed before distribution into the shops.

I do not need to mention any names of supermarkets, or abattoirs, but I was a little surprised to find that we have Scotch beef, that travels very long distances. For example, from Scotland, to London and Wales to be packed, before returning to stores in Scotland!

In one case, when in Oban a few weeks ago, I saw a steak that was slaughtered in Aberdeenshire, packed in London and back up to Oban, which made me wonder, what were the costs, as the supermarket was only charging £4 for it?

At long last the producer return per kg for prime cattle for the moment, is where it should have been a long time ago. I maintained that £4.20 per kg was crucial if we are to have a future in beef production and it has to stay at that level for the foreseeable future.

If Nicola has made a blunder with the Greens, her rural affairs minister, Mairi Gougeon, has done likewise by not inviting Jim Walker to be her co-chairman in the implementation board for the Farmer-Led Group recommendations.

Jim is one of the most eloquent spokesmen for our industry and yet she has ignored his unquestionable ability to communicate with the industry. His knowledge and experience is second to none.

This committee has now a major challenge to face by not having Walker the Talker, in their midst and that is controlling him by collective responsibility. They will be looking over their shoulders at the end of every meeting, wondering if they have made the right decisions, because, if they don’t, you can be sure, through his column in The SF, Jim will leave their decisions in tatters!

As for NFUS president, Martin Kennedy, he will now have his hands tied behind his back, with few options but to follow the political and civil servant line with little room to manoeuvre on behalf of his membership.

Our reason for travelling way out west to near Oban, was because a young Airdrie chef was launching a certain brand of beef with the help of John Scott Meats, at his newly refurbished hotel where he has just been appointed manager and chef in the restaurant, called Tigh an Truish, which nestles on the tiny island of Seil, just over the Bridge over the Atlantic, about 15 minutes south of Oban. The restaurant was filled to capacity for his steak nights and we wished him well on his venture.

During our stay, I visited Neil McCorkindale and his daughter and son-in-law, who run a true hill farm, which was very interesting, running Luing cows that are never housed. We then adjourned to Campbeltown, right to Southend, and a tour of Kintyre, with many lovely dairy farms.

Earlier, I had my annual trip to Dingwall anniversary sale, with beef finisher, Jock MacKay, where I witnessed the most expensive sale of store cattle in my life, but one has to say, they were good cattle.

It is by far the most efficient market I attend. The auctioneer hardly has time to take a breath between one lot out and next one in, a lesson to be learned by every other market manager.

Finally, on rainfall, having had three-inches over August 8 and 9, when all our light land was brown, we now have an abundance of grass in every field going into September. Thus ending one of the best summers ever in this part of Lanarkshire.