Jamie McGrigor today called on the Scottish Government to take every possible action to support struggling dairy farmers, especially those from Kintyre, Gigha and Bute, who are facing severe financial challenges due to low milk prices. Jamie was speaking in today’s Parliamentary debate on the Rural Affairs Committee’s recent inquiry into Scotland’s dairy sector. As well as backing calls for local product placement and increased marketing support for Scottish dairy products, Jamie emphasised the importance upgrading Campbeltown Creamery and called on Ministers to take immediate action to reduce the high ferry fare costs involved in transporting milk from island communities. He welcomed the Cabinet Secretary’s indication in the Parliament that he was likely to approve an investment of £450,000.00 in the Campbeltown Creamery in the very near future.
Speaking today Jamie said: “ It is right that our Parliament sends a unified, cross party message of support to Scotland’s hard-pressed dairy farmers and I restate my party’s strong backing for the dairy sector. I welcome both the Rural Affairs Committee’s dairy inquiry and, in general terms, the Scottish Government’s Dairy Action Plan, at least in as far as it goes. “ We have heard today of the very severe challenges facing those dairy farmers contracted to First Milk and these include my dairy farming constituents in Kintyre, Gigha and Bute, fragile rural communities where the dairy sector is critical to the local economy. Milk costs farmers around 30ppl to produce but some First Milk suppliers are receiving 18ppl or less, meaning massive- and unsustainable- financial losses for many farm businesses. I would wish to commend the positive actions of Mount Stuart Estate on Bute in relation to their dairy tenants. “ The financial pressures facing First Milk itself are well known and all of us want to see First Milk back on a sound financial footing and this must be the immediate priority. We recognise that the Scottish Government has said it is committed to helping support First Milk transform its operation in Scotland and we welcome this. The Dairy Action Plan suggests the government will provide support for First Milk’s revised capital investment plan in Campbeltown and I want to emphasise how crucial this is. The Campbeltown Creamery is a critically important processing facility but investment is needed in new boilers and increased capacity. I therefore welcome what the Cabinet Secretary said today of the imminent approval of grant support of around £450,000.00 for the creamery with the first instalment of that grant to be paid within weeks and I look forward to this being delivered as soon as possible. “ Other members and the Rural Affairs Committee inquiry have also raised the issue of the high commercial vehicle ferry fare costs to uplift milk from the dairy farms on islands, amounting to some £120,000 for Bute and £29,000 for Gigha. I agree with local dairy farmers that the Scottish Government should intervene on this matter without delay and provide these dairy farmers with practical and immediate support, certainly before the October target set in the Dairy Plan.“ In terms of the Orkney dairy sector, I back calls for the Scottish Government to do whatever it can to support the co-op for Orkney cheese production. The co-op is facing a cross-roads with production dropping from 16 million litres to 13 million, so producers need backing to allow them to invest. We must retain critical mass and capacity in Orkney which has such a deservedly strong brand. “ Many members have talked about local product placement and marketing and I agree with much of what has been said. Last week’s Campbeltown Courier had a story headlined “ Delight as Mull of Kintyre brand is back on supermarket shelves” referring to the news that the 2 supermarkets in the town are again now stocking the delicious local cheddar for the first time in years. I welcome this news but it seems bizarre that Kintyre shoppers have been unable to buy locally produced cheese from their local supermarkets; this would simply never happen in France or Holland and it shouldn’t happen in Scotland. We should be actively promoting local and Scottish produce and I commend the NFU Scotland Kintyre Branch for their forthcoming “ Kintyre Cheese, Yes Please” event on 7th April . And clear labelling is vital too so our consumers know they are buying dairy products made and processed in Scotland with Scottish milk. “ We will continue to call on the Scottish and UK governments to do absolutely everything they can to support our dairy farmers through the present crisis which has been caused by fluctuating milk prices, partly influenced by the current imbalance in international dairy supply and demand. We all need to back our hard-working, specialist dairy farmers and ensure that the industry gets through the current challenges so that we retain the producers and processing infrastructure which, with the right marketing and export support, and by building on Scotland’s strong reputation for quality food, has the potential in the future to be an area of growth for our rural economy.”