ANOTHER month has rapidly flashed past, but the pace of life on most farms has slowed as winter casts its mantle over the countryside. I did enjoy my day on Wednesday at the Royal Highland Winter fair and was highly-impressed by the quality of livestock on parade and frankly amazed that exhibitors can still find time to prepare animals for such shows.
However, the industry is facing a crisis and for once it does not directly involve incomes, but rather an impending shortage of labour. The rural workforce is ageing and not enough new recruits are being enlisted to fill the boots of those who are cl
ose to retirement.
This is not a problem that can easily be resolved, though higher levels of unemployment in general may just tempt some of those who have lost their jobs to consider a future down on the farm. But working on the land or shepherding in the hills is a highly-skilled occupation and becoming more so with the advance of technology.
I started driving a tractor – a grey "Fergie" – at the age of nine in the harvest field between stooks of oats in the era when combines were just beginning to become common.
The tractor driving skills demanded of me and many others of a similar age were not that demanding. All that was required was to avoid jerking between the stooks and ensuring that the men on the trailer stacking the sheaves were not thrown off.
But time has moved on and while the Ferguson and similar marques had an output of 20 horsepower the average of a typical tractor today is in excess of 100hp with some giants being far more powerful.
I recall a few years ago being in Denmark at the launch of a new range of Massey-Ferguson tractors and being in awe at the size and technology of these giants.
I climbed into the cab of one of these leviathans with a fellow journalist who also came from a farming background. We shook our heads and exclaimed in unison that neither of us would be able to start this machine, far less drive it to the other end of the field and back. That is how much the farming world has moved on in the past 50 years.
It applies just as much to the livestock sector where little more than 400 ewes constituted sufficient work for a full-time shepherd: today that same employee is expected to tend at least 1,000 ewes. He may well have the use of a quad-bike, but he will still require many of the skills utilised by his counterpart of 50 years ago.
That is why the announcement at the Winter Fair that a survey is to be conducted into which skills farmers require has to be welcomed.
One speaker at the launch remarked to the effect that it might be necessary to teach aspiring shepherds how to skin a dead lamb and set it on a replacement. It's years since I skinned a dead lamb, but it is a skill that one never loses.
Reversing a tractor and trailer falls into a similar category as does sheep shearing, but people have to be taught in the first place. This survey, which is being organised by Quality Meat Scotland, aims to identify the skill that the industry judges to be in need of upgrading is a definite move in the right direction.
When the results are analysed next spring, that will be the time to seek funding as it will take money to hone the skills of both farmers and their employees.
Agricultural colleges such as Elmwood and Oatridge do an excellent job, but I have a suspicion, and it is shared by some farmers, that the education courses have strayed a shade too far from many of the truly practical aspects of the industry. This needs to be addressed.
MEANWHILE, Richard Lochhead, the Cabinet secretary for rural affairs, will meet today with the less favoured areas committee of NFU Scotland to discuss the problems and possible future of hill farming.
I stress possible future, because it is clear that, under current economic conditions, the viability of rearing cattle and sheep in the hills is under extreme threat.
The handbook recently published by QMS on the profitability of livestock production makes that clear. The figures for 2007 show that 21 flocks with a total of 11,000 ewes on average returned a negative net margin of £19.06 per ewe with some losing as much as £40 per head.
Of course, these losses tend to be masked by LFASS (less favoured area support scheme), but turning the ship around will not be easy or straightforward.
Speaking on the eve of his meeting with NFUS, Lochhead said: "We have a clear and ambitious agenda for Scottish agricultural in the 21st century: a dynamic and competitive industry which supports the sustainable, economic growth of our rural communities.
"Less favoured areas comprise 85 per cent of our agricultural land and are therefore an integral part of our agenda. LFASS provides £61 million each year to support over 12,500 farming and crofting businesses.
"The recent loss in livestock from our hills is a matter of serious and growing concern to the Scottish Government. A decline in activity threatens the viability of communities and impacts on food production and our environment."
Fine words indeed, but translating them into effective action will be more difficult. Cash is tight with the Holyrood budget showing signs of strain, while there is little chance of securing direct support from Brussels.
Years ago, I interviewed the late Dr Robin Armstrong for BBC Radio Scotland. He was a scientist and innovator, but also great supporter of hill farming. I have never forgotten his closing remarks, which were to the effect that it was not birds of prey that were under threat on the mountains and hills, but rather the very existence of man himself in that challenging environment.
His words are even more true today.
The full article contains 1016 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
