Hansard

I definitely agree with the cabinet secretary that this has been an incredibly difficult year for our farming communities. The NFUS describes it as a “crisis”, because of the dairy crisis, the weather this summer, price volatility not just for dairy but for grain, and the nervousness and concern about farm payments and potential delays. The viability of some of our farms is at stake, so we really need the Scottish Government to do more to support the industry. Our amendment sets out some key areas where we think that we need change and action.

At the top of my comments, I re-emphasise our support for our farming sector and what it does to assist us with food security—not in the way that happened at the end of the second world war, but in the 21st century, with climate uncertainty and changes around the world, economic instability that is caused by dysfunctional supply chains not just in Scotland but all round the world, and the vulnerability of farmers who are having to borrow large sums of money to invest in modern farming equipment. We can see the strains in the industry. Our supply chains are long and remote, can be lacking in transparency and are, as the NFUS says, sometimes completely dysfunctional.

However, as the cabinet secretary said, there is success in the industry, too, and we should celebrate it. We should acknowledge the record food and drink exports. I hear from the industry that the figures have been boosted by particularly strong performance in the drinks sector, although there are good headlines in some parts of the food-supply sector as well.

As an economic sector, farming and agriculture provide a bedrock in many of our rural communities, with jobs, incomes and livelihoods being delivered by farmers and farm workers, so I want to keep the beginning of the SNP motion and to note their “hard work and dedication”. However, I also want to ensure that we reward that hard work, which is why Labour members believe that it is vital that we retain the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board, given its positive impact on rural livelihoods and its representation of farm workers, who might be only one or two people on a farm. In another industry, they might be one of 50, 100 or 1,000 people. Farming is a very different industry—the isolation can be severe, so such staff need support. We are therefore disappointed that the SNP Government is consulting again on abolishing the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. That would be a retrograde step at this time of uncertainty.

During the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee’s visit to Islay and Jura this week, the importance of agriculture was stressed by one of the tenant farmers. He highlighted the importance of farming and crofting in supporting the whole livelihoods of rural communities. We must not take that for granted, so we need to capture better the benefits for those who work in the industry, for those who lead it and for our rural communities.

We believe that use of co-operatives is underdeveloped in Scotland. They are a key way for small producers in particular to secure value from farming and crofting produce. We see co-operatives in other European countries, but we do not see them on the same scale here.

Our amendment also highlights the importance of farming and of farmers as stewards of our land. They have a key role in supporting biodiversity, and a distinct contribution is being made by the organic farming sector. That role is also important for the long-term health of our soils and for capturing the economic benefit of marketing our high-quality, well-renowned produce. The challenge is to design support mechanisms that help farmers to deliver those aspirations in practice. Anyone who visits a farm will find that if not the first thing, then the second or certainly the third thing that the farmer will mention is what they sometimes regard as the daftness with which regulations are applied.

We need to do much more to support the transition on emissions and to enable farming to make its contribution to alleviating climate change. Farmers are doing key work on taking advantage of renewables—especially wind and, I hear, solar—but the step back from the UK Government in relation to renewables obligation certificates and the feed-in tariff is creating short-term obstacles. Much more can be done in relation to farming as a whole. At the Royal Highland Show I saw for myself the research that Scotland’s Rural College is doing, which could be applied if we had the right transition plan in place. The cabinet secretary needs to be doing much more work on that. Every other sector in the Scottish economy is looking at how to play its part. The issue needs political and ministerial leadership, and it will get support in the Parliament.

The terms “agroeconomy” and “agroecology” are being used by Scottish Environment LINK. We need a broader discussion among all stakeholders about how to innovate and develop good practice. However, a key threat is the economics. I mentioned global price fluctuations and the weather, which are huge threats to our farmers’ day-to-day work.

The milk and dairy industry is massively vulnerable at the moment, and there is not enough urgency in the Scottish Government’s dairy action plan. I wrote to the minister more than a month ago with positive suggestions on product development, marketing, public procurement and support for catering in the private sector, but I am still waiting for a reply.

When the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee visited Orkney in the summer, we saw the impact of positive support from local government for our farming communities. The minister should explore that.

There is consensus on some areas, including on fairer prices for farmers and shorter supply chains, but work is needed from the minister in that regard. We need an overhaul of supply chains if we are to deliver fairer prices. Some members in this Parliament have campaigned for fair trade abroad, and we have had an impact on trading relationships. This summer I was shocked by the level of dairy prices in this country.

Over the past decade, there has been cross-party work in the Parliament, particularly in its rural affairs committees, on the importance of fairness and transparency in contracts and prices. However, when I visited a farm this summer and commented on the impressive mound of potatoes in a barn, I was shocked to be told that the potatoes would not be sent into the retail chain, because the contract had been pooled. The farmer was, rather than wasting them, using the potatoes to feed his livestock. That was the best that he could do. There is still a power imbalance in the industry. Supermarkets and the retail industry are not in a fair relationship with farmers, particularly smaller farmers, although the randomness of the impact of contracts on bigger suppliers can be shocking, too. Shorter supply chains should be part of a better picture in which we would have more accountability and certainty. They would also save on logistics costs.

As the cabinet secretary said, we need a new drive on public procurement. When I talk to my local government colleagues I think that more could be done at national and local levels. We would like new targets and a fresh approach to promoting co-operatives and joint supply locally. It is crucial to target hospitality in the commercial sector.

The minister has been in his position for eight and a half years. Some of the things that he has announced today are welcome, but it should not have taken eight and a half years and a crisis to get to this point. As we said in debates on the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Bill, standards are high and the quality of our environment, animal welfare and producers is impressive and something to be proud of. Politicians could act on local sourcing and procurement in Scotland to ensure greater value right across the food chain.

I emphasise our support for the cabinet secretary in his work in the EU and with the other UK Governments to support agriculture and investment in our environment. We need to get the right mechanisms, which need to be fair and fit for purpose. I understand that this morning the Public Audit Committee interrogated Scottish Government officials about CAP payments. It would be helpful if the cabinet secretary could guarantee that payments will be delivered by December. It is astonishing that banks are beginning to put in place special measures to get farmers through the winter. That is a crisis that should not be happening. The cabinet secretary needs to take his share of responsibility for the mismanagement of the programme.

We need to do better for our farmers. We need to ensure that they are properly supported, because they support a raft of jobs in our rural communities and because of the vital money that farming brings into our economy.

We need more on country-of-origin labelling. There is cross-party support for the food sector in Scotland, but we are perhaps not applying it effectively enough. At the end of the day, the Scottish Government could do more. Our amendment calls for action and urgency. It puts on the agenda issues that are not in the Government’s motion.

There should not have to be special arrangements for loans; we need support for our industry that works and will keep it going through the winter.

The debate should send a clear message to the Scottish Government, the UK Government and our retail sector that we need a better deal for our farmers and our farming communities. This is about the role of Government in supporting industry, looking at dysfunctional food chains and persuading consumers to buy differently. There is a role for us and the retail sector, so let us do it together.

I move amendment S4M-14327.3, to leave out from “but” to end and insert:

“; recognises and celebrates the importance of the agriculture sector to Scotland’s rural economies and its international reputation as a producer of quality food and drink; notes the importance of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board to securing workers’ wellbeing and livelihoods; believes that the sector can deliver greater social justice and economic benefit to rural communities through the promotion of cooperatives, greater biodiversity, organic food production and land conservation to aid the continued stewardship of Scotland’s land; notes the new opportunities presented by agro-ecology; further notes the significant potential of the sector to deliver sustainable and effective action to meet the Scottish Government’s climate change targets, for example from on-farm action and community-owned renewable energy; recognises the damaging impact that global price fluctuations caused in summer 2015, particularly in the dairy sector; calls on the Scottish Government to accelerate the implementation of the Dairy Action Plan; further calls on it to facilitate and enable the overhaul of the sector’s supply chains to deliver fairer prices for farmers and shorter supply chains, enhance product development to add value to quality raw materials and to promote diversification within the sector; considers that new targets should be set for the Scottish Government to improve the procurement of Scottish produce across the public and private sectors in Scotland; urges the Scottish Government to clarify the delivery of 2015 CAP Pillar 1 payments before the payment window opening on 1 December 2015 and to press the UK Government to allocate Scotland a fair share of Europe’s new €500 million market support package, and recognises the failure of the UK Government to allocate the £190 million convergence uplift and to deliver the most appropriate arrangements for the Scottish agricultural sector red meat levies.”