McArthur presses Scottish Government on EFAs

Orkney's MSP Liam McArthur has today urged Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie to commit to ensuring that future 'greening' obligations are workable for farm businesses in Orkney.

Speaking during portfolio questions, Mr McArthur highlighted concerns being raised by farmers in his constituency about the workability of Ecological Focus Areas, pointing out that in places like Orkney, the required interventions risk pushing up costs while delivering no real environmental benefit.

Commenting further after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:

"For months now, I've been hearing from farmers in Orkney concerned that the Government's approach to Ecological Focus Areas ignores the specific circumstances faced by farming businesses in the islands.

"When it comes to agri-environment schemes, Orkney farmers have good track record with higher levels of sign up than anywhere else in the country. They have demonstrated a commitment to achieving greater sustainability.

"It’s disappointing therefore that the Minister is not willing to go further and suggests that island farmers need to 'suck it and see'. Given the downward pressure on herd numbers in Orkney, this is a high-risk strategy.

"Island farming businesses deserve island-proofed policies. The approach to future greening measures to appears to fail that test”.