A North West perspective Crofting: The three legged stool

The future of our landscapes, rural economies and the nation’s food chains are intricately linked to the survival of our crofters. How can crofts thrive and prosper while also being expected to deliver on the aspirations of Government policy?

NIALL CAMPBELL, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, NORTH WEST SCOTLAND

Crofts produce food, support biodiversity and manage carbon so on the face of it, there should be a perfect unison between our crofters and Government policy.

However, striking the right balance is difficult, and all too often the approach to policy development is modelled on larger farming systems. We need to change our approach to crofting, thinking of it as a three-legged stool; producing food, promoting biodiversity, and managing carbon in equal measure.

What would happen if our policy makers got it wrong? The reality is this could push (and in many cases is already pushing) active crofting over the edge and could have serious consequences for many.

Crofts need to be financially viable. The crofter needs to be able to pay the associated costs of managing livestock, growing crops and see a return on the time they have personally invested.

We now live in a world that has become increasingly volatile for our farmers and crofters. As they face challenges such as extreme weather events, input price rises or regular ferry disruptions for those living and working on islands.

Not tomention concerns over labour and attracting, as well as retaining, new entrants into crofting.

All of this has come at once, causing growing concern across the sector about what Government policy will look like post 2025, and what future support will exist for crofting.

Although considered small producers, crofters play a key role in managing our land and producing high quality livestock to our supply chains. They may individually be small, but there are a lot of them. The public, though they may not be aware of it, need the vibrant and unique crofting community in order to support food supply, natural capital management and carbon capture.

Confidence is eroding fast in our crofting communities, and our policy makers must provide much more detail on what the new agricultural bill will entail. Crofters are feeling increasingly ignored, struggling to rise above all the noise and are in desperate need of some assurance that their voices are both valued, and heard.

The solution, as always, is compromise. In return, crofters do need to modernise their thinking in line with the high-level demands of today’s world and government’s ambitious targets. However, at the same time, policy makers must factor crofters and other small farming business into their thinking and decision making, from the outset.

So, what can be done and how can we make sure we all get the best out of this situation?

For a start, crofters should look to engage with the biodiversity challenge, become more confident and prouder of the high nature value farming systems that they operate. By doing this we will change the way we are understood, and biodiversity will be viewed as a core output of crofting systems, and not just a by-product.

Our crofters must also embrace new technologies and techniques. For example, cattle collars will revolutionise the way we graze and manage our livestock, creating multiple benefits for both animal efficiency and habitat management.

They can also look to techniques such as rotational grazing to improve both livestock output, and biodiversity.

Similarly, our policy makers must seek to fully understand the challenges faced by crofters and small farms, designing policy from the outset that takes their unique situation into account. Additionally, there needs to be a front loading of farm support, incentivising small producers to act positively where policies around biodiversity and climate change are concerned.

“Many of my colleagues in SAC Consulting living in the communities where they work, are active crofters and smallholders in their own right. So we are well placed to understand both sides of the argument.” niall.campbell@sac.co.uk

Finally, The Crofting Commission could be a lot tougher on vacant or non-active crofts – there is plenty of demand out there from new entrants, and active crofting brings more vibrance and fresh perspectives into rural communities.

Above all else, it is key that we all pull together and ensure balance in the three legs of the stool. Crofters want to be agriculturally active and are quite rightly proud and passionate about the food and landscape they produce. So if policy makers work with them and get it right, the future is bright.

Niall Campbell is the Regional Manager for SAC Consulting in the North West and is also an active smallholder.