SAVAGE SNP CUTS TO RURAL SCOTLAND ADDS TO FARMING MISERY
Swingeing cuts on agriculture by ScotGov as inflation hits farmers is morally and economically indefensible
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According to the great Roman author, naturalist and philosopher Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, “the master’s eye is the best fertiliser.” And judging by ongoing inflation and savage Scottish Government cuts to agriculture, our farmers had best hope Pliny is right. After all, the Scottish Nationalist government is cutting support to the sector right as it struggles to cope with spiralling costs of the three ‘fs’, fuel, feed and fertiliser.
The Scottish Government budget for 2022-2023 reveals SNP plans for cuts to agricultural support and related issues. Back in 2021-2022 £804m had been allocated in this area, yet for 2022-2023 agricultural support drops to £799.6m; a cool cut of £4.4m1. None of this ought to come as a surprise, after all last year witnessed the the Holyrood government slash the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) budget. The AECS was cut from £42.7 million to £34.2 million2, despite Scottish farmers struggling to mitigate the impacts of Brexit. According to the registered charity ‘Scottish Environment LINK’ (a forum for Scotland’s voluntary environment community), the SNP cuts to AECS last year came despite funding being
“already insufficient to secure the scale of uptake by farmers needed to address declines in farmland wildlife and help tackle climate change. This cut makes matters significantly worse.”3
Naturally the SNP have form kicking our farmers in the teeth. As far back was 2018 swinging cuts to the rural economy were already being inflicted. The 2019-20 budget showed enormous cuts including cuts to business development by 13.3%; agri-environment measures by 7.3%4. Additionally, the 2019-2020 budget saw funding for Less Favoured Area Support Scheme also reduced by £14 million in real terms5.
So the latest round of austerity, cuts and pain being inflicted on the Scottish rural economy in the 2022-2023 budget follows in the footsteps of a long line of savage SNP cuts to the Scottish rural economy.
But this time the cuts are even more egregious given the economic pain Scottish farmers are facing. With British producer price inflation hitting an unprecedented 22.1% in May6, our farmers are struggling to survive in the production chain. The prices for essential inputs are skyrocketing in price as inflation cripples the economy. The prices of the three ‘fs’, fuel, feed and fertiliser are hugely damaging.
The price of British produced Ammonium Nitrate (AN) - a vital fertiliser for agriculture - has jumped up 152%7. In raw numbers that means the May 2021 price per tonne of £218 was £716 per tonne by May 2022. And the prices for imported AN per tonne has increased even more, with a leap of 172%8. Again the raw numbers tells the story behind the percentile jump, where May 2021 price of £270 per tonne was £731 per tonne by May 2022.
British farmers use around 1m tonnes of manufactured AN per year, it is used to grow wheat for human consumption and also grass for animals dietary needs. Put simply, Scottish farmers are a facing unbelievable price hikes in the basic inputs they need just to keep producing. These input price inflation numbers is the reason the ‘factory gate’ prices are also rising fast, in turn putting more pressure on supermarkets to put the prices consumers see up.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government is continuing where they left off in the 2019-2020 budget, and once again implementing swinging cuts to the rural economy in their 2022-2023 budget.
In her speech to Holyrood parliament, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes boasted that
“My last two Budgets have been shaped by our experiences of Covid-19 but we are now lifting our eyes to the future. This is a transitional Budget, as people, businesses and services get back on their feet.”
Yet sadly for our farmers this SNP government’s eyes are not focused on the future of Scottish agriculture, nor even immediate needs. As ever, the gap between SNP rhetoric versus the actual lived reality is stark. Let nobody forget how their botched reform of farmers payment back in 2016 resulted in chaos, delayed payments and huge fines left for Scottish taxpayers to shoulder.
As Ms Forbes boasts of a transitional budget to help get businesses and services ‘back on their feet’, she has overseen cuts to agricultural support and the AECS budget. Meanwhile according to a publication in the House of Lords library feed prices are also throttling our farmers thin bottom line
“concentrate animal feed prices in March this year had increased by 15.6% over the past 12 months.”9
Once again we can see our rural economy producers suffering amid the inflationary spikes caused by supply chain disruptions driven by brexit and the pandemic. Plus we also see staggering indifference from a Scottish Government busy allocating £20m for a referendum the Lord Advocate does not believe is legal.
The SNP’s handling of the rural economy over their fifteen years in power is a story of mismanagement and savage cuts. Amid the pain of the global inflation crisis, our farmers can ill afford the wrongheaded priorities of a governing party more obsessed by the constitution than helping our struggling economy. If Pliny was right, then Scotland badly needs new political masters in Holyrood and in Bute house ready to run their eyes over matters. Only then will the rural economy flourish once more.
ScotGo021, 9 Dec), Publication: ‘Scottish Budget 2022 to 2023’, https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2022-23/pages/11/
Bol, David (2021, 17, Feb), ‘SNP under fire for 'savage' cuts to farming climate funding’, The Herald, https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19098060.snp-fire-savage-cuts-farming-climate-funding/
Scotlink (2021, 12 Feb), Publication: Budget 2021-22: Cuts to Agri-Environment Climate Scheme Funding, https://www.scotlink.org/publication/budget-2021-22-cuts-to-agri-environment-climate-scheme-funding/
Martin, Rachel (2018) ‘SNP budget is a ‘kick in the teeth’ for rural communities’, Agriland, https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/snp-budget-is-a-kick-in-the-teeth-for-rural-communities/
ibid
ONS (2022, 22 June), ‘ Producer price inflation, UK: May 2022’, Office for National Statistics, https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/producerpriceinflation/may2022
AHDB (2022, 9 June), ‘GB fertiliser prices’, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, https://ahdb.org.uk/GB-fertiliser-prices
ibid
Eardley, Frank (2022, 22 June) ‘Rising cost of agricultural fertiliser and feed: Causes, impacts and government policy’, House of Lords Library, https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/rising-cost-of-agricultural-fertiliser-and-feed-causes-impacts-and-government-policy/
Exactly! It’s mystifying 🤷♀️🤷♀️
A desperate situation for farmers to find themselves in, shouldn’t we be future proofing our own home grown produce?