Scottish farming hitting crisis point

[peter macdonald]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1543262007

Lets hope Richard Lochead had some success

"Richard Lochhead, the rural affairs minister, who was in Brussels to appeal for Scotland to be treated separately from the rest of Britain during the foot-and-mouth outbreak, announced interim plans for a "welfare cull" of hundreds of thousands of sheep that can no longer be exported and for which there is insufficient domestic demand."

I like the comments made about the amount of media coverage to Chelsea football team in the news part of the media against whats happening to the small farmers and crofters... Like the fishing industry it looks like the small farming /crofting way of life maybe coming to the end of the road in Caithness
unless things drastically improve
PM

[percy toboggan]

Maybe a resurgence of former dietary staples like Mutton Pie should be on the cards, and on the menu at Holyrood. Instead of this new fangled Pizza, and Cans of Loany. Not to mention the infamous Chicken Tikka Massalad.

I'm not sure it's a good idea for Scottish 'ministers' arguing - in Brussels - for different treatment to the rest of the UK. It illustrates what a nonsense this devolved parliament really is. If you really want to have your own ministers (& I believe most of you do not) then perhaps you should demand the independence referendum. I think it will take more than the fate of a few sheep to convince the majority of Scots which side their bread is buttered.

Seriously: I wake up to 'Farming Today' at 5-45 am every weekday. I know the situation is grim, and getting grimmer. I hope relief comes soon to all the farmers upon whom we depend, and not just those north of the border. Who is to say a Cumbrian hill farmer should not also be treated differently to those in the so called Home Counties?