Rural Community Gateway

The lifting of restrictions is in parallel with the lifting of the Protection Zone in Surrey.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead urged producers to consider export rules.

He said, "Whilst the domestic movement regime is returning to its pre-outbreak arrangements producers need to consider the export rules. The requirements for export are that stock to be slaughtered must have been resident for 30 days and that no susceptible animals have moved onto the premises within the previous 21 days where stock is intended for the export market."

However, this news has not come quick enough for thousands of lambs in Scotland now facing starvation.

Emergency scheme for light lambs

The Scottish Government has introduced an emergency sheep welfare scheme aimed at preventing an animal welfare crisis.

The scheme has been launched to handle 250,000 light lambs (under 25kg liveweight) which are bred for export to Europe. These markets have been closed for two months due to Foot and Mouth restrictions and will only reopen on Friday 12th October 2007. There is not a domestic demand for these lambs.

Many of these animals now face starvation from the onset of winter and lack of grazing. The Scottish Government’s scheme will see farmers paid £15 per animal. The lambs will then be slaughtered humanely with some carcasses rendered to allow use as skins and fat for biodiesel. The rest will be incinerated. The animals will not enter the food chain.

The scheme is voluntary. Farmers can keep their lambs for food or fattening up if they wish.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said, "The foot and mouth crisis has left hundreds of thousands of sheep stranded on our hills facing starvation and it is quite clear that we have to act now to prevent any more suffering. We are already getting isolated reports of lambs dying.

"We cannot countenance the prospect of this continuing given the impact not only on the welfare of the animals but also on those farmers who would otherwise face watching their flocks starve to death.

"Scotland is facing this problem earlier than other parts of the UK because our grazing cycle is one month ahead.

"The Scottish Government strongly believes the moral and financial responsibility for this crisis lies with the UK Government. It should bear the costs of this scheme but action is needed now and we will provide funding on an emergency interim basis and seek to recover this from Defra in due course."

You can find more details about the resumption of meat exports and the sheep welfare scheme in a letter from Secretary for Rural Affairs Richard Lochhead to Scottish livestock keepers, available on the Scottish Government website. You can also call the Foot and Mouth helpline on 08451 55 33 66.

Scottish Crofting Foundation response

Scottish Crofting Foundation Director Donald MacDonald said, "The resumption of meat exports has come too late for the majority of this trade and there is no alternative to a welfare scheme. We deeply regret that these healthy, good quality lambs, which are normally in great demand in southern Europe, will not enter the food chain, despite our arguments that a market could and should be found.

"We still have concerns regarding the position of cast ewes in the crofting areas. Trade in these animals is at a standstill and there may well be a need for a welfare scheme in this sector also. We are greatly relieved that movement restrictions will be lifted from next week which will allow domestic markets to operate normally, and we appreciate the efforts of the Cabinet Secretary and the Chief Vet to mitigate, as far as they are able, the effects of the Surrey Foot and Mouth outbreak in Scotland.

"However, the industry in the Highlands and Islands has again been brought to its knees. It is totally absurd that exports, for example from Shetland, a thousand miles from the outbreak, have been banned, while there has been no such ban affecting France, Belgium and Ireland which are a lot closer to the infected area. We will need to have discussions with the Government to try to ensure we are never put in this position again.”

NFU Scotland response

NFU Scotland President Jim McLaren said, "This is another dark day in what is turning out to be the Autumn from hell for Scotland’s livestock industry. To have reached the point where we have to dispose of lambs because they are facing starvation is just horrendous.  We have been calling for this scheme, which is an awful necessity.

"Many farmers will struggle with the concept of the lambs, which they helped come into the world this Spring, being disposed of. However it will at least bring some relief to them as the welfare crisis they are facing can now be eased.

"We have had reports coming in of lambs dying already because the grass is gone and the weather is closing in.  The condition of tens of thousands of lambs that are still on farms is  rapidly deteriorating because of the lack of feed and, worse still, they are eating the grass that the ewes rely on over the Winter.  If our breeding flock suffers losses over the Winter, the consequences for the long-term future Scottish sheep industry don’t bear thinking about.

"The fact that the UK Government has still refused to pick up the cost of this scheme is nothing short of a disgrace.  The Scottish Government has stepped in and that is absolutely critical, but the negligence and inaction in London will not be forgotten by Scottish farmers."

SSPCA response

Mike Flynn, Chief Superintendent for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said, "The policy of the SSPCA is to oppose the culling of animals unless there is a clear animal health or welfare issue.

"The current Foot and Mouth restriction has resulted in some 250,000 light lambs in the remote regions of Scotland, losing their market within the traditional livestock calendar. Through no fault of Scottish farmers, these light lambs are already competing for poor grazing or being fed diminishing supplementary feeding that was in place to feed what was expected to be next year's livestock production.

"There are already reports of livestock mortalities in these regions, and if the situation remains it will put these light lambs at severe risk of starving to death.
"The Scottish SPCA therefore fully supports the proposed sheep welfare scheme, and offers the Scottish Government any aid to ensure that the aim of the scheme is transparent and met."

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