Allan Bowie fires CAP greening broadside at government
NFU Scotland yesterday accused the Scottish Government of paying only lip service to common agricultural policy (CAP) simplification '“ while creating more confusion by imposing additional environmental regulations and failing to update greening guidelines for producers.
Dismissing new plans which would require livestock farmers to provide nutrient grazing plans for their permanent grassland as further gold plating yesterday, the union also claimed that full guidance was not yet available for schemes which had been running since the beginning of the year.
“While nutrient budgeting may make good sense and promote efficiency at farm level, by making it statutory, the cabinet secretary [Richard Lochhead] would be wielding a big stick rather than using alternative voluntary approaches, such as the rural development programme, to promote the benefits that nutrient budgets can deliver,” said union president Allan Bowie.