The National Farmers' Union has called on the Scottish Government to consider a financial support package for those affected by recent bad weather conditions.
The Scottish Government announced a £500,000 package to help meet exceptional costs that some farmers face in dgisposing of sheep, lambs and calves that perished in the snow last week.
Total losses in Dumfries and Galloway, South Ayrshire, Arran and Kintyre are unlikely to be finalised until a significant thaw takes place but the industry anticipates that for some businesses these will be considerable.
That support to have fallen stock collected is welcome and the Union has asked the Cabinet Secretary to give consideration to other financial measures that would assist the whole farming community.
The desperately poor weather of 2012 has been followed by a long, cold winter and the list of problems for farmers is growing – cash flow, additional feed and fuel bills, late drilling of spring cereals and so on.
"The last few days have been catastrophic on some farms, but we are now entering a phase when income losses and increasing costs will combine to create a perfect storm that will threaten the very existence of many otherwise robust units" said NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller.
"The financial pressures will build day by day across much of Scotland, but without grabbing the headlines. The legacy of 2012 and the prolonged winter of 2013 will affect all areas of Scotland. The longer the severe weather goes on, the more extreme and widespread the impacts are going to be.
"I have asked the Cabinet Secretary and his officials to look in detail at what possible financial resources might be made available, and through what means such support might be best targeted to be most effective.
"I realise that in the present economic climate this will be very difficult, but this looks like the worst period of spring weather in recent times. The Cabinet Secretary has shown genuine willingness to support the sector in this difficult period and that can extend to exploring what financial support options might be available."
NFU Director General Andy Robertson has spoken to Defra Farming Minister David Heath to highlight concerns for farmers who could yet be forced out of business due to the snow and freezing temperatures.
Robertson said: "Hill farmers and their stock are well used and well equipped to deal with snow during winter – this is a natural part of the changing seasons. What has made this so exceptional is the quantity of snow, the prolonged low temperatures and strong winds so much later in the season when sheep are at their most vulnerable in late pregnancy or at the start of lambing.
"Farmers have done everything possible to prepare and care for their stock – bringing them down to lower levels where possible, stocking up on fodder and for sheep used to coming inside, bringing them into available buildings.
"Anecdotally, we have heard that snow is 10s of feet deep due to drifts on some north facing hills, with potentially hundreds of sheep dead underneath. It may be a few months before the snow on north facing slopes melts enough to see the real impact.
"Financially, this could drive some farmers out of business, and those on the brink need all the support they can get. It is bad enough to lose stock but it adds insult to injury to then have to pay large sums to have them removed. There is scope for such costs to be minimised under the Fallen Stock Scheme and I have asked the Minister to ensure that there is clear direction to make full use of this."
NFU President Peter Kendall said: "We have been overwhelmed with dozens of calls and emails from members of the public and we thank them for the messages of goodwill.
"The best way of helping is to donate to the three main farming charities – RABI, The Addington Fund and The Farm Crisis Network – and we are liaising closely with them to ensure those farming families in financial difficulty get the help and support they need.
"The weather has completely knocked the stuffing out of the industry over the past year which has been unrelenting with heavy rain, floods and now this long winter. We will continue to work with our members in the worst affected parts of the country identifying areas where we can help them get through this difficult and traumatic time."
NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said: "After such a challenging summer and autumn of 2012 a late and (for all the wrong reasons) record-breaking spring it is exactly what isn’t needed right now. Of similar concern is the effect on grass growth with any greenery being a rare sight and crops going backwards rather than forwards. Feeding ewes quality diets to maintain milk production is essential, even though this brings a cost, and providing shelter from driving snow and wind wherever possible will inevitably help."
The conditions being experienced will bring hardship to many and NSA will be raising the issue of the use of EU hardship funds on the basis that they are in place and already justified to help the farming community through times of extreme hardship.
However, hardship funds usually have to match-funded by the Member State requesting monies, which will not sit well with our cash-strapped Government.
However, Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead of the Scottish Government has taken already taken action, as the result of three teleconferences in recent days that NSA Scotland has participated in.
Reacting to the particular hardship caused by drifting snow in Arran and in and around the Kintyre area and Campbeltown, the Cabinet Secretary has made tracked vehicles and a helicopter available for farmers who couldn’t find sheep. Other areas of Scotland have also been affected badly, with reports of farmers unable to find large numbers of seep in various areas. The timing really could not be worse with lambing having started or about to start on many farms.
