NFU Scotland will tackle two of the biggest issues facing Scottish agriculture at its annual council meeting, taking place near Perth next week.
With the Scottish Government’s consultation on implementation of new CAP rules expected to be published soon, the meeting will be addressed by representatives of English and Irish farming unions on how the CAP Reform package is progressing in their countries.
Land reform and the tenancy review are also on the agenda. Scottish Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced his intention to review tenant farming legislation and a Land Reform Review Group is already established. Dr Stephen Pathirana, Deputy Director of the recently-created Land and Tenancy Reform Unit in Scottish Government, will address the meeting.
In addition, the chairs of all the union’s commodity and technical committees will lay out their priorities and workstreams to the members.
Speaking ahead of the Council Meeting, NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller said:
“With Scotland's consultations on future CAP implementation and rural development measures looming, it is worth taking time to see how other nation’s are responding.
“In England, where direct support is already being delivered on an area basis, we can explore how farmers have reacted to that change but also look at how proposals to shift funds from direct support to rural development measures are being received by farmers there. In Ireland, where future support arrangements are likely to include an element of coupling to livestock, we also want to look at the 'Irish Tunnel' model on how we might manage the transition of existing business to the CAP support new regime.
“Talk of land and tenancy reform has been dominating the headlines and a planned ministerial-led review of Agricultural Holdings legislation has been announced. The whole industry is keen to see more information on the remit of the review, the appointment of review group members and the timetable involved.
“To help inform members, Dr Pathirana will outline the consultation plans and survey work that Scottish Government is undertaking as part of that reform process, so we are clearer on how we engage with it as a Union.”
