The First Minister Launches New Scottish Food and Drink Strategy at Royal Highland Show
Key Highlights :
The First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, recently visited the Royal Highland Show to launch a new Scottish Food and Drink strategy. The strategy has £5 million of Scottish Government funding and is designed to help the country’s sector to “grow faster than similarly sized competitors, such as Ireland and Norway.”
The visit, however, was overshadowed by the concerns of the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFU Scotland) that the Scottish Government’s confidence has plummeted due to the Scottish Greens. NFU Scotland has said that certain wildlife and land management policies that have come in since the Bute House Agreement – a shared policy programme between the SNP and Scottish Greens – have significantly impacted farmers’ businesses and mental health.
The NFU Scotland has claimed that “a hardening Green agenda” has given the industry “cause for serious concern not only for rural businesses but for the Scottish economy as a whole.” In response to the sector’s concerns, the First Minister said he is “willing to engage with them directly because I think it’s in all of our interest that we make sure we have a sustainable agriculture sector and a sustainable planet otherwise there will be no farming.”
One of the major issues that the farming sector has raised is the Scottish Government’s decision to ban the use of Asulox – a herbicide that has been used over the last decade to control bracken. The UK Government has given the green light to farmers south of the border, but the First Minister said Scotland took scientific advice from the Health and Safety Executive, an independent expert in relation to pesticides, and the government’s chief scientist which he said claimed the risks of using Asulox outweigh the benefits.
Farmers are adamant that controlling bracken, an ideal habitat for ticks, is important to prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease. They said aerial spreading of the chemical is the only way to access some hillside terrain that is too dangerous to access by vehicle until another solution is found. They have also said it is a threat to biodiversity given its growth causes a “wasteland”, and build up of the weed creates extra fuel load for wildfires.
The First Minister said the government was “looking at alternatives, and we are going to support as much as we can further research into those alternatives.” He added that the government is committed to finding a solution that is beneficial to both the environment and the farming sector.
Other concerns from the farming sector include the growing numbers of the reintroduced beavers and sea eagles which have led to farmers paying “tens of thousands of pounds” in dealing with damages to their crops and livestock, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said.
The First Minister’s visit to the show was to launch a new food and drink strategy, which has £5 million of Scottish Government funding, for the country’s sector to “grow faster than similarly sized competitors, such as Ireland and Norway.” The strategy is designed to help Scotland’s food and drink sector to become a global leader in sustainable and innovative food production.
The strategy focuses on four key areas: improving the sector’s environmental sustainability, promoting Scotland’s food and drink to the world, developing the skills and talent of the sector’s workforce, and making sure that the sector is well-placed to capitalise on new opportunities.
The First Minister said the strategy will help to “strengthen and grow the sector and ensure that Scotland is a world leader in food and drink production.” He added that the government is committed to working with the sector to ensure that it is “fit for the future, so that it can continue to provide high-quality products and services to customers around the world.”
The First Minister’s visit to the Royal Highland Show to launch the new Scottish Food and Drink strategy was a positive step forward for the sector. The strategy will help to ensure that Scotland’s food and drink sector is sustainable, innovative, and well-placed to capitalise on new opportunities. The government is also committed to working with the sector to address the concerns raised by farmers, such as the ban on the use of Asulox and the increasing numbers of beavers and sea eagles. The Scottish Government has said it will continue to work with the sector to ensure that Scotland’s food and drink sector is fit for the future.
