4 minute read
Are we doing enough to support nature positive farming on the West Coast?
JANETTE SUTHERLAND, SENIOR CONSULTANT, SAC CONSULTING
Suckler cows in the north west of Scotland and Islands provide three main outputs. They produce store calves for the supply chain, heifers as replacement cows for their own and other herds – and they also provide wildlife benefits.
The system of young (store) west coast calves being sold to specialised finishers is an efficient use of land resources. It also allows cows to continue to benefit habitats in the west for rare species such as corncrake, twite and hen harrier.
This system keeps finishing animals nearer the source of straw and centres of population. It also ensures that the dung is available for maintaining organic matter in arable soils on the east coast of Scotland.
Weaned calf sales are an excellent example of ‘informal collaboration’ as it is the quantity of quality calves from various crofts and farms that is the draw to the buyers. Truly, the whole is greater than the parts.
In places like Skye, where I croft, the way cattle are farmed can often be described as nature positive. Grazing on moorland areas, for example, can help create niche habitats, where hen harriers flourish. Cattle grazing helps maintain species-rich grassland where plants and grazing animals have evolved together. It can even reduce the fuel load which helps prevent wildfires. These diverse habitats create a wildlife-rich landscape.
The current system on the island supports a lot of low intensity agriculture. Another factor on Skye is that there are only small amounts of fertiliser used, which helps the native grasses and wildlife.
Another example of agriculture and nature working hand in hand has been a boost in numbers of endangered corncrakes on Skye, thanks to crofters changing the way they make silage for their cattle.
However, the Scottish cattle herd is falling in size and the way cattle keepers are supported financially is also set to change. So far, with initiatives like the Scottish Beef Calf Scheme, there does not seem to be any clear reward for maintaining cows in areas where the grazing pattern of moorland and diverse grassland swards, as well as resting fields for late cut silage, is a positive for wildlife. However, the recent derogation for herds with less than ten calves is very welcome.
The current support payments help maintain these systems. Most of these systems are supported through Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) and there is a real risk of wildlife loss if future reform of these payments does not take these existing nature positive benefits into account.
Policy must recognise the whole picture in diverse areas, rather than there being a one-size-fits-all approach. Current strong store prices are helping to maintain confidence, but this cannot continue in a policy vacuum. It is important that the future of these herds are secured for both critical mass for the Scottish herd and as grazing tools for important wildlife management.
With a tightening supply of calves, the importance of these herds to the national beef supply is also likely to grow. However, one of the strongest parts of the system - the story of beef raised in High Nature Value (HNV) farmed landscapes and supporting small scale agriculture - does not percolate through to the final consumer.
Most crofters already have a full-time job. If their support is reduced, there is a chance of land abandonment, which would mean no silage made and the ground becoming thatched. If there is no grazing, bracken would dominate, and height variation would disappear. Wildlife likes variation and cattle help to provide that diversity.
If we are in a situation where north west businesses were forced to sell up and no longer keep cattle, that would adversely affect crofters, farmers, and the food supply chain. Not least because, if there are fewer calves on the islands, then farmers on the mainland will have less choice and may have to pay more for them.
Many of these calves could be described as nature positive and it is important that, as an industry that is being challenged to account for our carbon footprints, that we do not fail to capture all the positive impacts our current systems provide.
The buyers and their customers are who can best use this story to bring value to the final consumer. But the question remains - what work needs to be done to tell this story?
