Crofting

Anti-crofting campaigns

By Patrick Krause, Chief Executive, Scottish Crofting Federation

Crofting seems to be getting it in the neck from industry ‘colleagues’, with recommendations from the farmers union aimed at securing less favoured areas payments for their morefavoured members and the national beef association apparently suggesting a means to the demise of extensive native cattle via an ‘environment tax’.

The paper published by NFUS “Less Favoured Areas: Delivering for Scotland” could have been written by the crofters’ representative, SCF, in the most part. It has collected together all the facts and figures that amply illustrate how the disadvantaged and severely disadvantaged areas of Scotland contribute to food production, environmental health, landscape, thriving communities and so on. All good, except that when you get to near the end you find the ulterior motive; retention of the Less favoured Support Scheme (LFASS).

LFASS has been consistently misused to divert public money intended for support to the fragile areas to act as a ‘top-up’ for the industry farms on better land. It was to be replaced by the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) support scheme which was developed to target support and which, as NFUS note in their paper, would move money to those areas that are genuinely constrained. But Scottish Government decided to not move to ANC and NFUS supported, indeed take credit for, this decision. The penalty for not joining ANC is that LFASS will be reduced to 40% next year.

As we leave the CAP, there is a gathering consensus amongst stakeholders that there needs to be support based on ANC in the new agriculture regime for Scotland. Scottish Government has made it clear that it is minded to go this way, hence the lobby from the industry farmers.

As for an environmental tax on beef slaughtered after 27 months - this really hasn’t been thought through. This would be a major issue for native cattle breeders/meat sellers of which there are many in crofting. They are already penalised by having to send unfinished cattle to slaughter before 30 months. And on balance would it benefit the environment? Native breeds tend to be kinder to the land, are hardier, increase biodiversity in their grazing habits and the list can go on. This proposal is being met with wide-ranging rejection, not just from the crofters. parallel, focus farms will be identifed, their parasite challenge assessed and their approach to internal parasite control monitored over a full production year. A new diagnostic technique has been developed by Scottish scientists to help in the early detection of sheep scab, marking a signifcant development towards improved monitoring and control of the parasite. This was made possible through an exciting interdisciplinary collaboration looking at new methods of protein expression and production.

The highly sensitive technique, created by a team of researchers from SEFARI consortium members the Moredun Research Institute near Edinburgh and the James Hutton Institute in Dundee, exploits a protein named Pso EIP-1 to detect asymptomatic infestations with very high levels of accuracy. Importantly, it will enable differentiation between vaccinated and infested sheep.

Dr Alasdair Nisbet, Head of Vaccine and Diagnostic development at Moredun, says: “The technical breakthrough that led to this development was a result of a longstanding, productive and highly collaborative relationship between the research groups at these two SEFARI Institutes.”

Sheep scab, or Psoroptic mange, is caused by an infestation with the parasitic mite, Psoroptes ovis, resulting in a severe skin irritation in livestock. The disease is highly contagious and has profound fnancial and welfare implications in areas where it is endemic worldwide.

Anyone who is interested, please contact Fiona Kenyon (Fiona.Kenyon@moredun. ac.uk) or Eilidh Geddes (Eilidh. Geddes@moredun.ac.uk) for

Interdisciplinary collaboration leads to new early sheep scab test

more information.

Rapid and accurate diagnosis is essential to help control this parasitic disease. Conventional diagnosis involves timeconsuming and expensive analysis of the skin or wool of the sheep under a microscope, which lacks specifcity and sensitivity. It also often fails to detect asymptomatic cases, which are responsible for spreading the parasite.

To overcome this issue, the team looked at methods of detecting the mite before symptoms occur. They discovered that early infestation by the mite triggers an immune response in the sheep, which leads to the production of antibodies associated with particular proteins that are excreted by the mite.

One particular protein, termed Pso o 2, was found to specifcally induce antibodies in sheep blood in the early stages of an infestation and before the appearance of symptoms. It was shown that Pso o 2 is also an excellent vaccine candidate as it triggers antibody production in the sheep, offering a degree of protection against mite infestation.

“Although Pso o 2 is also a promising candidate for the prototype sheep scab vaccine being developed at Moredun, it cannot be used both diagnostically and in a vaccine as vaccinated sheep would give a positive test even if they weren’t infested.” says Dr Stewart Burgess, Principal Investigator at Moredun.