AGRICULTURE is pivotal to Dumfries & Galloway and although responsibility for the sector is devolved to Holyrood, UK Government involvement and funding are vital.
It was fascinating to join Stewart Wyllie, Mhari Dawson and John Locke – who took time out from hectic calving – of the NFUS at Auchlane, outside Rhonehouse, courtesy of Hamish Campbell.
Food security is very much on the national agenda as the war in Ukraine showed just how fragile global food supply chains can be.
Just one example, but the cost of your fish supper has been directly impacted by Putin's illegal war, with the price of raw materials and, of course, fuel for the fishing boats and power for the chip shop sent soaring.
We need to see much more of what's on supermarket shelves, and on family tables, being produced domestically. That means helping the agriculture sector not just survive, but thrive.
This Conservative Government has delivered on its promises, making good on a post-Brexit commitment to maintain the funding available to farmers and land managers in every year of the current Parliament, moving on seamlessly from the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy.
For Scotland under our devolution settlement, the Treasury confirmed that for 2023/2024 and 2024/2025, the Scottish Government will receive £620 million per year on agricultural/rural funding.
This consists of £595m in CAP replacement, and the £25.7m uplift as recommended by the Bew Review – an independent assessment to ensure farming support is fairly distributed across the UK.
Contrast that with the in, out, shake it all about sleight of hand with rural finance from the SNP. Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, was also at Auchlane and he has done a superb job of pressing the Scottish Government on the issue of money being 'deferred' and the rural budget being used as a source of ready cash for other areas.
It's simply not good enough, and Finlay is hammering home that message.
The NFUS are clear they want to see a multi-year deal for farming, and I will be feeding that message back as part of the process of shaping the Party's position on agriculture ahead of the next Budget.
There was frank discussion too about the National Park proposal for Dumfries & Galloway. Ultimately the final decision sits with Holyrood and not Westminster, but there are some serious concerns about what NP status would mean.
Galloway has been shaped by thousands of years of human activity, and today it is a thriving and productive agricultural landscape. Would National Park status enhance that, or would it stifle progress, turning our hills, fields and forests into a sort of living museum? How would it boost our tourism offer if, for example, a farmer was prevented from turning land over to accommodation?
There are so many unanswered questions, and it troubles me that an application for NP status for the Scottish Borders has not received support from Council officials or elected members, yet is still able to progress.
We are a long way from a decision on where a third NP for Scotland will go, but we need much more clarity on which of the many competing visions of what it would mean for Galloway would actually be brought forward.
Separately, I am keen to explore the opportunities for Dumfries & Galloway offered by Britain's new trade deals. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is huge – and I don't just mean its title. It opens up a vast trading bloc around the Pacific rim where dairy products are much in demand as a growing middle class see them as a sign of wealth and sophistication.
With the majority of the Scottish dairy herd in D&G, I want to maximise export chances. Raw milk can't be shipped far, but the products derived from it can go global.
I remember the creamery at Stranraer making feta cheese for Iran. Current tensions mean that market is not an option, but it highlights how top-quality produce from here could go global.
Dumfries & Galloway has a host of world-class food and drink products, and while domestic markets will always be at the forefront, there's a big market out there beyond our shores.
John Cooper
Scottish Conservative and Unionist for Dumfries & Galloway
