Comment

CROFTERS on some of Scotland's islands are losing a facility that will not only have an affect on livestock farming but could also impact the environment and island sustainability.

Under current European requirements, the UK Government is obliged to test all cattle over 24-months of age that die on farm for signs of BSE. Throughout the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) currently pays for these animals to be collected, tested and disposed of. On certain Scottish islands, this process involves animals being collected, stored, frozen and despatched as a batch to the mainland for testing and disposal with a local collector contracted through the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to provide that service.

These contracts are not being renewed with companies collecting dead animals on Shetland, Islay, the Uists, Lewis, Tiree and Barra in an attempt to cut its costs.

The Scottish Government is not in agreement with this decision and a spokesman said: "The testing of all cattle over 24 months is an UK obligation and Defra don't have European Union authority to withdraw from this. The free scheme is unlikely to be running from 2009 as it is now and farmers will be required to pay but subsidies for this service are still needed".

However, an Animal Health and Welfare spokesperson for Defra told Smallholder: "BSE testing on fallen cattle (cattle that have died on farm) over 24 months was introduced in the Islands to establish the prevalence of the disease. Now that the surveillance has achieved its objective, the value to the taxpayer of the costly free collection and disposal service in the Islands with fewer cattle is open to question. Defra is looking at all areas of expenditure on BSE to drive out unnecessary costs".

Certainly, there have been very few cases of BSE on the Islands and cows born before 1996 are now unlikely to have the disease but the Licensed Animal Slaugher and Salvage Association believes that all funding for the over 24 months testing scheme will soon be withdrawn and there are further cuts in the pipeline that will add to the cost of the disposal of dead animals for the Scottish Islands and mainland alike. Defra is consulting with the farming industry on cost-sharing but in reality those in the livestock stock industry take this to be cost-transferring, with Defra, through the Rural Payments Agency withdrawing financial services.

The National Fallen Stock Scheme (NFSS) run by the National Fallen Stock Company has its funding terminated in November and from then on all costs for the disposal of fallen livestock will have to be paid in full by the producers - farmers, smallholders and crofters. The Scheme, brought in when the burial of livestock was banned, was initially partly subsidised by Defra in order to encourage livestock producers towards disposing of their animals correctly. With escalating feed costs, as well as higher fuel and fertiliser costs there are fears that farmers may go back to dumping carcasses if they have to pay fully for a disposal collection.

John Bogie, who runs a dead animal collection service for a large area of Scotland said: "It would be criminal to revert to the farmer paying. We collect between 1,000 and 1,500 dead cows a week and they are then disposed of correctly. It is unlawful to bury them yet the farmer has not only lost the value of the animal, he will also have to pay the full cost of disposing of it, which is likely to be over £100. This service is free in other European countries, purposely to protect water courses and environmental health and should be free here. The NFSS has worked well with 99% of fallen stock being disposed of correctly and it's an opportunity lost if it is not continued."

Whilst it would greatly affect livestock producers across the UK, on the Scottish Islands a lack of any funding towards the disposal of fallen livestock could have greater implications.

Pat Boyd, a veterinary surgeon on Tiree said: "There is a Derogation for the burial of sheep carcasses on the island but the disposal of animals costs more than the animal is worth. With the soaring costs of keeping livestock I am seeing downsizing in some units and where there used to be around 15-16 cows there are now about 5 or 6. This will have an effect on the environment as there are fewer animals to graze the land properly.

"The whole thinking of Defra is offloading costs. If general costs keep going up and more costs are transferred to the farmer, such as the disposal of carcasses and disease control, crofters will just say we are no longer keeping livestock. In small communities, if you take away the livestock you take away the people. Go to Sutherland where there used to be sheep, they've now disappeared, so have the people and there are vast areas where there is nothing. If crofters stop keeping livestock, when they pass on there will be no livestock around and no reason for people to be there."

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