Carmichael raises need for further abattoir and dairy farm support in Parliament
Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, yesterday evening [Monday] spoken in Parliament on the need for greater support for smaller local abattoirs in a general debate on farming. Mr Carmichael called for a greater understanding in government of agriculture as a “public good”, both in terms of food security and maintaining rural communities, and highlighted the examples of dairy farming in the Northern Isles and the consolidation of abattoirs away from Orkney and Shetland. He also called for a longer-term funding settlement from the Treasury to allow greater confidence and stability for farmers and crofters.
Mr Carmichael will lead a debate on the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator in Parliament later today [Tuesday 5th March].
Speaking in the debate, Mr Carmichael said:
“I have noticed over the years, as a farmer’s son and as a representative of an agricultural community, that piece by piece, and sector by sector, the importance of farming has been diminished. Once we have lost a sector, we never get it back. I look at dairy farming in my constituency. We have seen a significant reduction in the number of dairy farms in Orkney, and in Shetland we are down to just two.
“We talk about food security. In Shetland, in the depths of winter, we quite often go up to a week without a ferry to bring in food. The supermarket shelves are just bare, but in that time, the one part of the supermarket and country shops where people can still see something on the shelves are the fridges that contain milk, because we have a local supply. If those two dairy farmers were to decide that they could not carry on production that would leave us completely at the mercy of imports for milk. We talk about public money for public good. Surely the continued production of milk in Shetland is a public good, and schemes that spend public money on supporting agriculture should be constructed in a way that allows that to continue.
“The House may be aware that Scotland’s farming budget is linked to the UK’s. It is sensible and necessary to have divergence in policy, but that diversity risks being undermined if there is not the resource in the budget to accommodate it. The Treasury needs to come forward with a framework based on a multi-annual agreement. We must also ensure that funding is ringfenced, so that the money cannot be taken away and put into something else.
“In many ways, the absence of smaller local abattoirs is indicative of the problems facing the agricultural sector and rural communities as a whole. Animals are being slaughtered in greater numbers in a smaller number of locations—as a consequence, I believe, of the way in which supermarkets drive down price, and the fact that it is so much cheaper for animals to be slaughtered in that way. That definitely works to the detriment of farmers in my constituency.
“I understand why there is no functioning abattoir in Orkney. I remember well the many problems of regulation, but at the end of the day, for a community that is proud of its animal welfare and the quality of the meat that it produces, that simply makes no sense. With a bit of native wit, flexibility and creativity, something better is surely possible.”