This general election campaign could be more vigorous than previous ones, believes NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie.
Launching the organisation’s manifesto in Edinburgh he said: “We have to recognise that there is a momentum from last September’s referendum which could encourage people to get more involved.
There was an 84% turnout in September and it would be great to think we could have that level or more this time,” said Mr Bowie.
He also acknowledged that the Smith Commission into further devolved powers for Scotland would have a bearing, saying: “The timing could have been better.”
The NFUS document which he and his office-bearers launched yesterday is billed as a manifesto, but in reality it is a list of suggestions and demands the organisation would like to see prioritised by political parties and their candidates.
Stressing the need for continued engagement with Westminster, NFUS chief executive Scott Walker said: “it will be wrong to say all power will be concentrated in Scotland. It is the UK which has the seat in Europe, the UK minister that has to take a view and the UK Government that negotiates overseas markets.”
Having said that, one of the union’s main demands is strictly partisan. The allocation of what is known as convergence funding has been a running sore for over a year.
The intention is that every member state in the EU should eventually receive the same per-hectare support payment.
That is far from the case at present and won’t be for many years to come but, as a first step, the EU made a 230 million euro adjustment in favour of the EU to be spread out over the five years of the new CAP.
The NFUS and Scottish Government confidently expected all of it to come to Scotland because the country has far lower per-hectare payments than other regions of the UK.
In fact the payment was spread equally across England and the three devolved regions, with Scotland’s allocation only 18% of the total.
Mr Bowie said: “Three Defra ministers in a row have said this needs to be reviewed, and we are now pressing for this to happen soon after the election.
“It is also important the UK Government complies with the spirit of the European Commission’s simplicity agenda on CAP to cut red tape and unleash the entrepreneurial potential in agriculture across the UK.”
NFUS vice-president Andrew McCornick called for politicians of all parties to pay more attention to tax relief mechanisms which could incentivise investments and increase the amount of farmland to let.
“Apart from anything else we need consistency of rates from year-to-year for schemes such as the Annual Investment Allowance.
“There is also a strong argument for the reintroduction of Agricultural Buildings Allowances to encourage investments on farms. This brings multiple downstream benefits such as employment in the building trade,” he said.
Mr McCornick also called for the reinstatement of the recently abandoned Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS).
He added: “The fruit and vegetable sectors are not getting access to workers, and a new SAWS would open up Scotland to students from all over the world for the busy periods.”
One of the longest-running sores among red-meat producers has been the lack of ability to repatriate levies lost when Scottish-reared and finished stock goes south of the border for slaughter.
Mr Walker said: “This is not actually a party political issue, but it is one which has been allowed to bumble along. We need to move it along now.
“There are quite a lot of mechanics to sort out but it mustn’t be allowed to sit on the back burner.
“Ultimately we should see money coming back to Quality Meat Scotland.”
There are of course other major issues.
The innocuous sounding Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was in fact a giant trade deal which could see 400,000t of beef heading towards the EU every year.
On GM cropping, the imperative was to make sure would-be politicians understood just why NFUS was calling for more research.
Above all, Mr Bowie and his team called for fairness in the supply chain.
Vice-president Rob Livesey urged the future government to pay attention to connectivity. “Having access to 3G and 4G in many rural areas is just a dream. Every valley in the country needs better access.
“On renewable energy we call for a more stable Feed in Tariffs (Fits), and far better access to an improved national grid,” he said.
NFUS members will have the chance to make the points themselves at a series of hustings including: Tuesday March 31, King Robert Hotel, Bannockburn; Tuesday April 4, Angus (venue TBC); Wednesday April 29, Huntingtower Hotel, Perth; Thursday April 30, Lochter Activity Centre, Oldmeldrum.
All meetings take place at 7pm for a 7.30pm start.