NFUS AGM

In the afternoon session on Monday afternoon there was a presentation from McDonalds who told a story that was very supportive of home sourcing. QMS and Scotland Food and Drink also gave addresses.

Jim McLaren, Chairman of Quality Meat Scotland said that in Scotland we profit from provenance. We have the provenance so let's benefit from that. Questioned on farm assurance SFQC were slated as a shambles with every inspector looking for something different. It was claimed from the floor that inspection was all about a paper chase and over bureaucratic. JM said inspections had been combined but in a recent radio interview he had been challenged because scheme wasn't robust enough. He said we need to protect the diversity of our food industry.

James Withers, chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink, suggested that Horsegate might well be a ” game changer.” On further questioning when it was suggested pressure should be placed on supermarkets since they caused this, he replied that 80% of meat sales still goes through the big four supermarkets. New testing regimes need to come into play. Local should have less testing than imports.
Best assurance scheme would be one designed by farmers. There is always going to be paperwork and necessary to support the scheme.

QMS were criticised for lack of media engagement. JM confident Scotland in a good place but were waiting to see how the whole thing filled out. He claimed that they were shouting from the rooftops. JW said that he was not angry and we should get out and support local supply chains. Eat local was the clear message. Customers need to ask for Scotch Beef and be clearly inform the customer what to look for. Perhaps UK plant numbers could be highlighted and allow consumers to understand to look for health marks carrying a 1000 prefix.

At the formal AGM the following morning, Nigel Miller was re-elected President, Fife farmer Allan Bowie re- elected Vice President and their Livestock Convenor, Rob Livesley took the place of the other Vice President John Picken.

Alyn Smith MEP addressed the AGM with what was basically a party political broadcast stating that Scotland can be a better nation. Scottish Independence would be the right road for Scottish Agriculture.

During the question time to the MEP he repeated what was a recurring theme of the conference – shop at your local butchers.