02/05/2013

£6m Aid Package For Scotland's Farmers

The Scottish Government has set aside a £6m package to assist farmers hardest hit by the recent severe weather.

The funding was announced by Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead, while an industry group, chaired by Chief Agricultural Officer Drew Sloan, will develop the finer details of the recovery package.

The aid is in addition to the £500k already earmarked to help farmers deal with the costs of fallen stock.

Mr Lochhead said: "Mother nature has battered parts of Scotland in recent months with the worst snow in living memory coming hard on the heels of a miserably wet summer.

"This is undoubtedly a major challenge for the industry. While farmers are used to operating in volatile conditions, these latest problems are giving them sleepless nights. The severe weather - which hit when ewes were lambing and at a time when some stock was already weakened by previous poor weather – has led to severe losses for some farmers.

"The Scottish Government has already acted swiftly to provide assistance and we have been listening carefully to the industry as we assessed the scale of the problem."

He added that the number of fallen stock collections for sheep had increased by 50% in April, compared to the same time last year, while it had risen by 25% for cattle.

(JP/CD)

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