Scotland-New Beef reasearch centre will beifit beef farmers.

SCOTLAND can boast it has the leading research and development facilities for the beef industry in the UK – and among the best in the world – following yesterday’s official opening of a new £1.2 million centre on the Scottish Agricultural College’s Bush Estate, just south of Edinburgh.

Close to 400 farmers and others involved in the sector attended the open day and all appeared hugely impressed with what they saw and heard at a series of informative workshops.

Professor Bill McKelvey, the principal and chief executive of SAC, sADVERTISEMENTet the tone in his opening remarks. He said: "The past year has been a very positive time for beef producers and we should remember that the red-meat sector employs around 75,000 people.

"Indeed, farming may during this time of financial uncertainty be one of the brighter sectors for Scotland.

"There are great opportunities for producers out there with demand outstripping supply. I know that the processors are worried about falling suckler cow numbers, but much of that could be countered by increasing efficiency.

"That was what we at SAC intend to do by helping farmers find practical solutions to their problems, but it is also clear that the Scottish Government sees agriculture as a core industry and I very much welcome the considerable funding provided for this research facility."

The opening was performed by Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs. He said: "We are pleased to have provided £1m worth of funding and it shows that we recognise that beef is vitally important to Scotland."

Lochhead pointed out that, throughout the EU, beef production accounts for just 10 per cent of agricultural output, while the figure in the UK is about 16 per cent, and in Scotland that rises to almost 25 per cent.

He added: "We should remember that 70 per cent of the beef produced is sold south of the Border or exported. But agriculture is not only for farmers: it provides backing for much of the social fabric of rural Scotland. If we have a prosperous beef industry, then there will be widespread benefits for a wide range of interests."

However, there are growing concerns over the steady decline in both cattle and sheep numbers. Speaking to the press after the formal opening, Lochhead was put on the spot as to how he and his colleagues could reverse this trend.

In response he said: "The current system of support has its weaknesses, with no clear linkage between support and production and we will have to investigate the possibilities of redressing that balance."

He clearly understands the frustration of farmers who are active producers that others in the industry have downsized their operations considerably since the Common Agricultural Policy reforms of 2005 and are still picking up a large annual subsidy cheque while doing less and less with each passing year.

Lochhead said: "There is no appetite for going back to directly coupled payments, but the current reviews of support for hill and upland farmers and a revision of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) present a chance to consider all the options, but there will be a vigorous debate."

The Scottish Government would clearly be in a difficult political position if it decided to cut support from those in the more remote areas who have reduced stock densities of both cattle and sheep and divert that funding to more productive businesses.

However, one of the chief advantages of devolution is that Scotland largely has control over its rural polices, always provided it keeps within the broad remit of the CAP. Lochhead tacitly admitted that a revamped SRDP, which has a budget of £1.6 billion over the next five years, would seek to address the problem of shrinking beef and lamb production.

The obvious solution is to up the annual payment on beef calves through the existing scheme from a basic rate of about £35 per head to something closer to £100 on every calf sold. That would fit the Brussels agenda in that there is a considerable social aspect to the maintenance of beef production in the hills.