Creating a sustainable future for farming in Caithness
Holyrood Notebook by Ariane Burgess
The future of farming and food production in Caithness depends on getting more young people into farming.
When I worked on the Agriculture and Rural Communities Act, I talked to many farmers and crofters across Scotland. They all said we need new ways for people to start farming, especially in growing fruits and vegetables.
That’s why I commissioned a proposal, to be published this spring, that offers people four ways into farming and food production.
Producing food sustainably in Caithness and across Scotland is essential to our nation’s future food security but the future of farming is at risk because of an ageing workforce and a lack of new entrants to the sector. The average age of farmers in Scotland is 54 and in the next ten years, 45 per cent of farm workers will retire.
Caithness is well known for its excellent grassland but it’s notable that headage, particularly of pigs and sheep, has been falling over recent years, while the area of land devoted to vegetables and fruit growing has steadily increased.
Scotland needs about 20,000 new farm workers just to replace those retiring but agricultural education in Scotland has decreased by two-thirds in the last 30 years. There are fewer courses and fewer students, so we don’t have enough new farmers.
I am working to help Scotland’s farmers get the workers they need by offering a clear educational and skills development pathway so they can meet the government’s shift towards regenerative agriculture, which helps restore soil and biodiversity.
This approach means farmers grow different kinds of crops and diverse animals and use methods that help take carbon out of the air and put it back into the soil. Crucially, for resilient food systems, regenerative farmers grow food close to where people live, so it doesn’t have to travel far.
This way of farming will be the new normal in the next decade. To meet climate goals and reduce costs, we need to move these practices from small, niche farms to large, everyday farms that supply supermarkets and wholesalers as well as local people.
Both new and existing farmers need support to learn new skills and get the knowledge they need, including practical and business skills. In my view, the best people to teach these skills to new farmers are the current experienced ones. No-one knows our land and soils better.
There are small programmes that currently help fill the skills gap but these are short-term, and not well-financed. There are only 150 degree and 500 apprenticeship students studying agriculture full-time. We need ten times this number just to replace retiring workers.
By reallocating just 1 per cent of the farming support budget each year, the plan I’ve developed could create a skills pipeline with 500 new learners a year and 3000 places for existing farmers to learn new skills, taught by 200 farmers paid to be on-farm teachers.
By investing in education and training, we can make sure Caithness’s farmers and crofters have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. This is not just about replacing retiring workers; it’s about building a sustainable future for our agricultural sector and our nation.
• Ariane Burgess is a Scottish Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.