Seòmar agus comataidhean

Is there enough funding and other support to allow you to think about where to put the trees and so on?

10:45

Nim, you talked about soil being a driving factor in the overall—you used the word “holistic”—practice that you and other farmers in the Nature Friendly Farming Network use. In the whole farm plan, there is a soil test that farmers can opt into voluntarily. However, it is surprising to me is that farmers do not test their soil, if soil is a driving factor. That testing is currently optional. What more do we need in place?

There is a spectrum of people, ranging from those who have never tested their soil all the way to Mr Griffin down in the Borders—I cannot remember his first name—who tests his soil to an incredible level. What more would we need, by way of support, training and so on, to help farmers to move to an understanding that soil really is a direct, driving factor?

09:30

It has been an interesting conversation so far. I can predict the answer to this question. The plan assumes that around 45 per cent of farmers will take up low-carbon measures, with most of that happening after 2030. As 2030 is the year before the next election, I think that the Government assumes that a lot of work will be done from 2026 to 2030, in terms of that rabbit that will come out of the bag.

From where you sit, does it feel realistic that we will get to 2030 and we will suddenly have that uptake? What would need to change on the ground for the uptake to scale now and into session 7? We have talked a lot about policy, but what other things do we need to help farmers to move in the holistic direction that we are talking about? [Interruption.]

Ah, tatties—great.

Do you have a sense that enough farmers already know what they need to do? We have legislated for regenerative and sustainable farming under the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024. Do enough farmers know what that is and what they need to do, or does there need to be more support? We have tier 4, which specifies continuous professional development, but does that get to the point of helping farmers to understand the new context that they need to be working in?

We have talked about a cliff edge, and a hillock has now been introduced, but it seems that we are in a place where people who are working with the land—farmers—need to try things out. Nim Kibbler has talked quite a bit about how we have a nuanced, diverse landscape, with different land and soils. Do we need to do something more to recognise that and to encourage farmers to try things out, knowing that, if it fails, there is the just transition—or perhaps not the just transition but some kind of support—in place in case a farmer puts a field over to trying more integrated measures or whatever, or they try certain cover crops or something and it does not work and they do not get a yield? Do we need to recognise that there is time to try things out over the next five years, that some of that will fail and that farmers need to be supported in that work?

10:00

Yes, I will move on to the issue of peatland and trees. We have heard that farmers and crofters are central to delivering peatland restoration and tree planting. I am interested in hearing whether the evidence shows that current support and advice are strong enough or well enough integrated to make that happen at scale. If not, what is missing?

We perhaps do not want to put that on to Jackie Baillie; we could ask the Government about it. There are fish counters in the Government’s data-gathering mix, but how comprehensive is that?

My question is about trees and peatland on farms and crofts. Sectoral annex 3 counts sequestration under that wonderful acronym LULUCF—land use, land use change and forestry—but not agriculture, despite delivery happening on farms. Is the practice of peatland restoration and tree planting on farms and crofts becoming mainstream, or is it still marginal? Are the current support and advice joined up enough? What barriers are still putting people off?

I am aware of a couple of examples. There is a person who is trying to put pigs into forests—I think that he is called the woolly pig farmer or something like that—and he has faced real challenges. I saw another example when I went to a tremendous monitoring farm near Grantown-on-Spey, where the farmer has been doing peatland restoration and also has a small forest where his cattle graze at times. He says, “I’m looking after the peat, but there’s going to be no support for me.” The indication is that people are doing it—I have seen it—but they struggle to get joined-up support and funding. Do you have any thoughts on that? It seems that that is what we need to scale up, because farmland is so much of our land. We need to develop the integrated and holistic approach that has been talked about.

Does IPM stand for integrated pest management?

Thank you.