COLUMN: Lamb prices may be up but inflation is much higher
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
COLUMN: From the Croft by Russell Smith
In the last couple of weeks it has felt almost like we are back to pre-pandemic normal.
Covid hasn’t gone, though, as witnessed by the number of people who say they have avoided it for the first two years only to succumb in the last few months.
August 4 saw the Black Isle Show open and busy with just the odd downpour to drive visitors into the tents.
The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) was back at our usual stance and we saw a steady stream of visitors and some new members signed up.
Topics raised included access to crofts for young crofters, provision of slaughterhouses in the north, upcoming proposals for agricultural support systems and how to bring common grazings back into use.
It is always good to speak directly to crofters to hear their concerns and priorities at first hand. It was also good to see the Crofting Commission there with officials on hand to help crofters with advice and support.
Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) had a presence on the SCF stand to get their message across to visitors about the new standards and why they are important even for small units.
August 9 saw us back at Lairg for the first lamb sale. This time there was no rain at all during the sale although the lack of rain and grass further south was a common topic of conversation.
The official sales report showed 12,340 lambs sold “and all sections met prices ahead of last year”.
However, wether lambs were only 78p ahead (about one per cent) which doesn’t begin to look at the increases we are seeing in feed, diesel, fertilizer etc.
For comparison, back in February, Aginflation was being reported at 28.8 per cent in the previous 12 months.
Ewe lambs at Lairg were sold to an average of £97.47 (up £7.63 on the year or 8.5 per cent). Prices were anecdotally reported as dropping off towards the end. So well done to the producers who topped the prices (most from Sutherland).
Black Cheviot ewe lambs got the top prices so maybe that is a market where demand is outstripping supply.
In our own case, our first draw wethers were up almost 10 per cent on 2021 and over 12 per cent for ewe lambs – I don’t think the lambs were necessarily any better but we were right at the beginning of the sale last year and nicely nested in at the beginning of section three this year.
This isn’t scientifically rigorous but suggests a £6 or £7 premium depending on the placing in the catalogue so the draw needs to be fair and to be seen to be fair.
It will be interesting to see whether they get rain further south and the grass improves before the second sale and if that has an impact on prices if buyers have been holding off this time round.
There is (at the time of writing) still no consultation out from the Scottish Government on the future of agricultural support payments.
Crofting has to be economically viable to keep food production going, to maintain communities and to conserve the environment for carbon retention and wildlife.
But in the meantime we have consultations on biodiversity and on land reform to keep us busy. We need to make sure that the crofting voice is heard.
Russell Smith is a crofter at Bonar Bridge and a director of the Scottish Crofting Federation.
