Building a successful future for Scottish farming

With a 485-hectare (1,200-acre) farm to run, and having recently undertaken a key role representing 9,000 farmers, crofters and growers as president of NFU Scotland, Nigel Miller has certainly got a lot on his plate.

But the former vet, who farms at Stagehall, Stow, Selkirkshire, alongside his two sons, is relishing the challenge.

Fuelled by a passion for agriculture, Mr Miller has a strong determination to see the NFUS drive the industry forward, and hopes to build on the success of his predecessor, Jim McLaren, in helping to influence EU and Westminster policy.

“We want to keep up the momentum now and keep growing our membership, which is a key part of being the main lobby group in Scotland,” he says. “We know we can make a difference.”

With a background in farming and eight years serving as vice-president and chairman of the union’s livestock committee, Mr Miller is only too familiar with the task of influencing Government.

“It is crucial the Scottish Government and Parliament recognise what the farming industry is already doing to secure food supplies, manage our environment and landscapes, and strengthen the rural economy - all against a backdrop of economic pressures in the supply chain, a burgeoning regulatory environment and the impact on the ground of climate change.”

Effective relationships

He says in order for the sector to flourish, it is imperative the Scottish Government maintains effective relationships with Westminster and the EU, and continues to press the UK

Government to take account of Scotland’s unique priorities in reforming the CAP.

“Devolution has been a real benefit to the rural community in Scotland. Agriculture is such a big part of the economy.

“Up to now they [the Government] have been fortunate to have Ministers who are supportive of agricultural production, and this will continue with Richard Lochhead continuing as Rural Affairs Minister.”

He says the wait for the outcome of the election on May 5 had been an anxious one. “Any election is quite a challenging time for us. It is such a crucial time.”

In the union’s manifesto, Mr Miller had outlined the main priorities - CAP reform, red tape, penalties, land use and relationships with supermarkets top the agenda.

“The key funding source for Scottish farming remains the CAP, and the debate around reform at a European level is building momentum,” he says. “I firmly believe the union has a pivotal role in moving us into a new and better era post-CAP reform in 2013.”

He says farmers need a ‘flexible and more transparent’ CAP system which recognises the country’s priorities, underpinned by a strong budget and ensuring only truly active farmers are the recipients of support.

“Being able to target funding for active farmers is important for taxpayers in order for them to get value for money,” he says.

“It is difficult at the moment because there is an amount of land which has no entitlement and this will dilute the budget if there is no activity.”

He says the Macaulay Land Use Institute’s land mapping system, now widely used in Scotland by agriculturalists, planners, estate agents and others as a basis of land valuation, is a useful tool in identifying which area payments are ‘appropriate’.

Mr Miller says the European Parliament’s agriculture committee has defined the idea of basic area payments which will have more greening requirements. It believes two top-ups should be available - a coupled box, which will affect the level of coupled payments in Europe, and the top-up envelope for potentially vulnerable areas.

“These two mechanisms will be quite important for Scotland because that might be a way of ensuring the right farmers receive the support.”

He says another priority the union has for CAP is to get some simplification of the penalties and inspections.

“This needs some effort. It should focus on outcomes, not the technicalities of process, and recognising genuine errors must be dealt with fairly.”

Encouraging young people to enter the industry and providing support to help minimise the administrative burdens on farm businesses and regulators, while ensuring the enforcement of regulations is fair, consistent and proportionate, is also high up on the union’s list.

The ongoing price dispute with supermarkets is high on the agenda too.

“We need a better deal between us and the supermarkets and there are green shoots there with the adjudicator plan, as the main parties have bought into it,” he says.

“That opening up of the supply chain at public scrutiny level must go quite a long way to solving our problems.

“The most obvious is the milk sector. We are fighting against prices which are often below the cost of production. The balance is way off and it is the same with the fruit and vegetable sector.”

A ‘proper farmer’

When he is not influencing Government policy, Mr Miller jokes he is a ‘proper farmer’, working with two of his sons on the family’s upland hill farm in the Scottish Borders, which supports 170 cows and 800 breeding ewes.

Traditional beef breeds are the basis of the beef enterprise, with Aberdeen-Angus cross steers sold through the auction ring and heifers marketed privately for bulling.

The farm’s sheep flock is founded on Lairg-type Cheviots.

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