Agriculture Bill (Views
of Ayrshire Farmers)
2. Willie Coffey
(Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley) (SNP)
To ask the Scottish Government how it will take account of the
views of Ayrshire farmers as part of its proposed agriculture
bill. (S6O-02393)
The Cabinet Secretary for
Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands ()
In the autumn of last year, in preparation for the agriculture
bill, we ran a wide-ranging series of consultation events across
Scotland to listen to the views of stakeholders and members of
the public. Those events included a well-attended event in Ayr,
at which Ayrshire farmers and producers shared their views on
what needs to feature in the draft bill in order to ensure that
the future adaptive framework can respond to social, economic and
environmental changes, challenges and opportunities.
Willie Coffey
I recently met Ayrshire farmers in Kilmarnock and heard about
some of their issues as well as their hopes for the new
agriculture bill. One of their recurring concerns is that they
feel powerless to influence the behaviour of the supermarkets
when it comes to getting fair prices for their quality products.
Does the cabinet secretary recognise that? Although we have no
powers in that regard, would she be willing to meet the
farmers—perhaps at some point over the summer—to hear directly
from them about their concerns and to hear their suggestions on
how such matters could be taken forward?
I would be more than happy to engage with Willie Coffey and to
meet farmers in his constituency. I absolutely recognise the
importance of the issue that he has raised, which is one that is
repeatedly raised with me in my capacity as cabinet secretary by
different producers as I travel across Scotland.
I look forward to the engagement that I will have over the next
few days through the Royal Highland Show. In addition, I have
been in touch with supermarkets
directly to have conversations about the issue with them. Willie
Coffey will undoubtedly be aware that the issue was raised by the
food security and supply task force that we had last year. One of
the recommendations in the task force’s report was about engaging
with the Competition and Markets Authority and the Groceries Code
Adjudicator to raise such issues.
