Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EU sheep report sets alarm bells ringing

The sheep industry is already suffering from nervous times
The sheep industry is already suffering from nervous times

Alarm bells are ringing in British sheep industry circles over a new EU report which has called for increased support for sheep farmers across all European member states.

The report, by a forum set up by EU farm commissioner Phil Hogan to consider falling sheep numbers and reduced lamb consumption, also suggests support could be coupled to livestock numbers, a measure that was phased out many years ago.

And while such a move might have been an appealing prospect for many Scottish farmers before the EU referendum, there are now fears that any extra CAP support for farmers still in Europe would put the industry at a huge competitive disadvantage post-Brexit.

NSA Scotland chairman Sybil MacPherson said that the sheep industry was already suffering from nervous times and any CAP policy changes during Brexit negotiations would have a direct impact on Scottish producers. She also dismissed any return to coupled support as a retrograde step.

“It was established years ago that coupled payments were not a clever idea at all. They can lead to overgrazing and overproduction. And headage payments could seriously distort trade,” she said.

Fife farmer George Milne, NSA Scotland’s development officer, warned that Scotland had seen the most significant decline of sheep numbers across Europe and pointed out that communities had already suffered from the impact of land abandonment when sheep were removed from the high hills.

However he welcomed another of the report recommendations, to increase the promotion of lamb within the EU in order to curb the decline in consumption.

He said: “There is clear evidence that when a campaign is in place in Scotland there is an increase in consumption during that period. We need to find funding for longer or more frequent campaigns.”

NSA Policy Officer Joanne Briggs added: “The UK is the biggest producer of lamb in Europe and a global exporter and, as such, would like to see more people enjoy lamb and appreciate how consumption is beneficial for human health and allows sheep farmers to deliver a whole range of additional public goods in rural areas.

“Generic campaigns such as ‘Lamb: tasty, easy, fun’ have been instrumental in promoting an ‘eat the landscape’ message and we need more of this.”

The National Sheep Association (NSA) has called on the UK Government to examine the report, largely because it came about as a result of concerns over the fragility of the sheep sector across Europe. Mr Hogan asked the forum to consider how falling sheep numbers jeopardised the “public goods” delivered by sheep farming businesses such as rural tourism and the preservation of heritage.

The report incorporated submissions from forum representatives including NSA, UK levy bodies and UK farming unions.

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk