Ferry Service Crisis Hits Island Farmers and Crofters

purpose As a result, economic growth is suffering

“For farms and crofts, a reliable, resilient ferry service is required for access to markets and to receive essential deliveries such as feeding, fuel or contractors coming on to the islands Many of our members have also diversified into agri-tourism and are suffering a double whammy from the decline in the service.

“Cancelled sailings, vessel breakdowns, lack of tonnage along with the inability to secure a ferry booking are increasingly becoming the norm and are causing negative financial impacts and frustration within the farming and crofting sector This has a knock-on effect to the wider community and could ultimately result in depopulation of these fragile communities

“Whilst the issues have been ongoing for many years, they are becoming more frequent and the impacts on individual businesses and island communities have been more pronounced in recent years Between November 2021 and February 2022 there were 961 cancelled sailings from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay alone. In addition to this, the Ardrossan to

Brodick route experienced 414 cancelled sailings between January and May of 2022 How can you plan when services are so unreliable?

“This deteriorating picture has resulted in farmers, crofters and livestock haulers being unable to secure bookings, even months in advance, to transport livestock on or off the islands. The number of situations in which small livestock trailers are being refused passage are increasing. It is an unsatisfactory situation both from an animal welfare perspective and simply adds additional costs to hauling stock

“We believed that the issue of inconsistent ticketing of agricultural vehicles had been addressed by CalMac in July, but this has now gone back with the finger of blame pointed at Transport Scotland because of a delay in reviewing ferry rates for commercial vehicles And the new CalMac ticketing system that was to be going live in October this year is still not ready

“The dossier on how poorly Scotland’s island communities are being served by ferries continues to grow and it is way beyond time for Scottish Government to do something about it.”

One of the best known characters in the Scottish agricultural show scene is stepping down as Secretary of Perth Show after 18 years Neil Forbes, who has administered the two-day agricultural showcase in Perth since 2004, retired from the post with Perthshire Agricultural Society (PAS) at this week's AGM

Following a spell of ill health, Neil (76) from Auchterarder, believes the time is right to hand over the reins after becoming the Show's longest-serving secretary

"I have loved every minute of it," he said "I've seen the annual event through its highs and lows and built up a wealth of happy, stressful, emotional and hilarious memories."

Neil's lifelong association with Perth Show began when he was a small boy but his earliest memory was as a seven-year-old helping out a family friend by leading their prize-winning Clydesdale round the show ground in the Grand Parade

"The excitement of doing that was just amazing," he recalled "Then as a teenager I helped stockmen at a local farm halter train the calves for shows

"Perth Show has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember "

The son of a farm manager, Neil opted to go into the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, which saw