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CWA Blog
Where the money goesDo you ever wonder why it’s so difficult to get money for community woodland projects to deliver exactly the sort of public benefits the Government says it wants? or ponder why land is so expensive in Scotland, way beyond any value that could be justified by agricultural (or forestry) production?
Well at least part of the reason for both is the vast amount of money that the government throws blindly at agriculture, including £560m annually in Single Farm Payment alone, which, since it was "decoupled" from production to sidestep World Trade Organisation Rules, does not require the "farmer" to do anything at all. Even spread over 5m hectares this is serious money, which ends up capitalised in inflated land values, and ensures there’s only crumbs left for genuine rural and community development projects.
Not surprisingly, there are calls for change. The Inquiry into Future Support for Agriculture in Scotland, chaired by Brian Pack, has just published an Interim Report*, which is a truly extraordinary piece of work; though sadly not for its new vision for Scottish agriculture, but for what it reveals about the mindset of the Government.
The report does at least suggest that future funding should be conditional on active management, but pays little more than lip service to the views expressed in the "call for evidence" that public funds should be directed to the purchase of public benefit and delivering action on mitigating climate change. Instead, the direction of the argument is clear - it doesn’t matter if our agriculture is unproductive, an economic basket case and a greenhouse gas disaster, it’s the only agriculture we’ve got, and it’s Government’s job to come up with a new rationale for protecting business as usual. Unfortunately this is a role the current administration seems only too willing to embrace.
A series of public meetings** is just getting underway, and there is an opportunity for further public consultation*** - we’ll be submitting a robust response, and inviting all those with an interest in sustainable community development and mitigating climate change to do the same. If we want serious money to be spent on supporting these in future, then this is a key battleground, but we’ll have to wait and see whether there’s any inclination in Government to listen to reason when there’s a farming lobby to appease.
*The report can be downloaded from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/20141055/11
** Go to Public meetings:
*** Go to Further consultation:
Next entry: More colonial anthropology...
Previous entry: Time to drop the "S" word?
However I do believe that the Single Farm Payment should not be separated from the farm being worked .I attended Brian Pack`s recent meeting in Inverness and hope that he,with his experience of agriculture ,can take forward practical recommendations to improve the present system.
That LFA map is a killer, almost all of Scotland severely disadvantaged apart from a wee strip down the east coast. There's lots of moderate land in Scotland, the south coast of Dumfries & Galloway, Ayrshire, swathes of valleys in Perthshire & Stirlingshire, Orkney, to name but a few. It's obviously a propaganda tool.
And the idea that farmers shouldn't be expected to provide public benefits which cost them. What does that say about stewardship of the land, the privelege of land ownership ? Do they think their custodianship of the land boils down to making products in an open air factory, with the tax payer picking up the bill for any extras. By the way, I think the landscape could be a lot more attractive if it wasn't designed by single minded farmers.
Donald McPhillimy