Scotland

Nearly half a billion pounds worth of livestock was sold through Scotland’s auction marts in 2019.

NFU Scotland has launched its policy proposals for the next decade with the period up to 2024 chiming closely with the Scottish Government’s well-aired Stability and Simplicity programme.

Blackface females were in demand at the breed’s Farmers Guardian-supported show and sale of in-lamb ewes and gimmers at Lanark.

Scotland’s globally accredited high food standards ‘should not be sacrificed’ in order to secure non-EU trade deals, the Scottish Government has warned.

Charolais bulls topped at 25,000gns twice, with a clearance rate of 79 per cent and averages up 571 on the year at 6,633.

A call of 18,000gns led the Simmental section which averaged 5,039, up 64 on the year, with a clearance rate of 67 per cent.

Salers sold to a high of 8,000gns, to an average of 4,935, up 1,406 on the year, and finished with a clearance rate of 73 per cent for the 16 bulls sold.

Dog attacks on farm animals have cost the UK agricultural sector £1.2 million, according to a report by NFU Mutual.

Almost 50 years on from the closure of the Scottish sugar beet factory in Cupar, a Rural Innovation Support Service group is aiming to look into the feasibility and steps required to re-establish the crop in eastern Scotland.

Thousands of students at Edinburgh University have voted to reject proposals to ban beef in all student run catering outlets.