Bobby Carruth, NFU, From Field to Plate

From field to Plate

The speaker at this week’s meeting of Hunterston Rotary was Bob Carruth, Communications Director of NFU Scotland. Bob was raised on a farm in Renfrewshire which his “wee brother” still runs, the ninth generation of the family to do so. Bob has worked at the NFU for 26 years and has been communications director for 16. He described the NFU as a “lobbying organisation” with 9,500 members, which for the past two and a half years as topped the lobby register for meetings with MSPs.

He started his talk by reminding us of the long history of farming in Scotland. Evidence from Scara Brae indicates they were arable and livestock farmers 3000 years ago. About the same time as the pyramids were being built in Egypt. He took us from 1707, when 90% of the Scottish population lived in the countryside, farming productivity was low, as were prices, through to the 1830’s and the impact of Agricultural Education and the impact of land and livestock improvements. By this time 1 in 3 of the population now lived in towns.

He took us from the repeal of the Corn Laws, the development of quality beef to the 1930’s when the “greatBritish breakfast” breakfast became ham and eggs. From then until 1980 there was government support for food production, initially within the UK then the EU. There was also import protection and a policy of producing food from our own resources.

Speaking of the last three decades, Bob recounted his experiences in Dumfries and Galloway, of the “Foot and Mouth” outbreak in 2001, then later the impact on Scotch beef of BSE, mad cow disease. There was also the famous Edwina Currie statement about salmonella and eggs. The power of a politician….

Brexit too had a dramatic impact, virtually overnight, all exports to Europe stopped. The UK cannot export without satisfying rigorous checks, but only in the last six months has a reciprocal process for imports from the EU commenced.

Bob gave us an interesting comparison between wages and the price of food, based on wages and how long you would require to work to afford basic food stuffs.

Fifty years ago – average wage £30-£35 per week.

Loaf  = 25 mins; 1 Lb Chicken = 1 hour; 2 lb Potatoes 10 mins; 6 oz steak = 44 mins; pint milk = 10 mins.

Today – average wage more than £650 per week.

Loaf  = 4.5 mins; 1 Lb Chicken = 5 mins; 2 lb Potatoes 2 mins; 6 oz steak = 4 mins; pint milk = 1 mins.

That’s puts a different prospect on our attitude to rising prices.

He also told us about the types of surveys the NFU carry out, e.g. checking the amount of Scottish labelled produce on supermarket shelves. Sadly the “Big Four” do not score very well and, perhaps surprisingly, Aldi and Lidl do better.

Bob spoke about the current perception of farmers and farming. 75% of Scots believe farming is important. 80% are aware of the “Scotch” label, but many still believe farmers are “subsidy junkies”

He then highlighted Scotland Worldwide reputation for quality, and why we should be buying more produce from Scottish farms. Cut down on food miles, why import from Argentina and New Zealand?

Buy safe traceable products. All our sheep are now tagged and traceable from the field to the shop. 

Today Scotland has higher animal and crop welfare than ever before. Half the eggs produced in Scotland are free range.

The only thing we lag behind in at present is adding value to what we produce. Example, value of 1Kg of Iceberg lettuce is £1.96. Washed bagged and ready to eat - £3.08 per kg. With other leaves, dressing etc. - £12.26 per kg. Flavoured milk is another example. Although I know a Farm Park outside Bangor that has a flavoured milk dispenser in their car park.

Bob then answered a wide range of questions from the audience covering topics from the impact of Brexit; the new Common Agricultural policy; the use of modern media, and why is Scotch whisky made with blended barley rather than solely Scottish produce?