United Kingdom-Farm Boss shares his concerns.

The new chairman of the National Farmers Union of Scotland’s national livestock committee describes electronic sheep tagging as ’an impossible requirement’.

And Lilliesleaf farmer Rob Livesey says losing hill farmers has a ’devastating effect’ not just on the environment, but on lowland farmers too.

The former Selkirk branch chairman was elected the new livestock committee chairman at the union’s AGM in Aviemore. He has fears for sheep farmers in years to come and criticises the EU requirement for electronic tagging.

"The long term future for the sheep sector is in for a rocky time with impending double tagging and individual records for every sheep, an impossible requirement that provides absolutely no benefit to farmers and consumers alike."

And he will be involved in seeking solutions for the gradual decline of the hill sector.

He commented: "I am particularly concerned with the lack pf profitability in the hills and the continued loss of stock from the more remote and vulnerable areas.

"When stock leaves the hills it has a devastating effect on the environment and farms further down the hill – this is where the our seed stock comes from – let alone the effect it has on those families living there."

Otherwise, the lamb and beef market for Borders farmers is good, he says.

He told us: "The livestock industry in the Borders is in a reasonable state considering the state of the rest of the economy.

"The beef sector has had a much deserved upturn in price for the last year and is remarkably resilient considering the credit crunch – store cattle have never reached these prices before.

"The lamb market has been better than last year. But not by much, until the turn of the year when prices rose by 30 per cent."

But while prices have improved, costs too had increased.

"The current exchange rate with the drop in value of the pound has helped to lift prices, but it is also causing input costs to rise too."

Another issue facing local farmers is bluetongue.

"The scourge of bluetongue is looming and we do not want to see any irresponsible actions that could threaten our businesses," he said.

"Long term, there will be changes to our support structure and I am determined that we find fair ways to introduce these. We cannot afford to have winners and losers."

Mr Livesey has farmed The Firth, Lilliesleaf, with his wife Kath for just over a decade after managing a large hill and upland farm in south Ayrshire.

They run 1,100 mule ewes, 80 Salers sucker cows, including a small pedigree herd, and grow about 120 acres of grain on the 760-acre farm, with lambs sold as prime lambs mostly through St Boswells market and prime steers sold dead to Scot Beef at Stirling.

Heifers are sold for breeding and the couple produce pedigree Salers bulls. Their commercial herd won the Salers Cattle Society’s inaugural best commercial herd in the UK title last year.