Chamber and committees

ScotMoves+ is a software module added to the current ScotMoves system which has been used by cattle keepers since 2017 to record cattle movements within their business. ScotMoves+ will provide functionality to record calf registrations, deaths at abattoirs and on-farm, and business-to-business moves within the multi-species ScotEID livestock relational database.

The estimated costs for development, release, support and management of the ScotMoves+ system is approximately 12% of total ScotEID operational and support systems costs for 2021-2022, equating to £136k. The development of ScotMoves+ during 2019-2021 is estimated to be an additional 5% of total ScotEID operational and support systems costs for those years, equating to £89k, with a total cost over 3 years of £225k.

There are also costs for producing and distributing paper passports, these are estimated to be £479k annually - equating to £0.83p per cattle passport. These costs will be fully realised as work progresses across GB when England and Wales disaggregate from the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) and they make the transition to their new systems. Passports are currently undertaken by the Rural Payments Agency who operate CTS.

There is no additional cost for farmers when they transfer from CTS to the new ScotMoves+ system.

Cattle keepers who use farm management software to assist with their farm record-keeping and other operational decisions incur an annual support cost of around
‎ £200 per year. Some cattle keepers who are using out-of-date farm management software or not paying annual support fees will typically pay a £100 set-up fee, plus an annual support fee of £200 per year to re-join a farm management system.

Scottish Government have worked with the industry for more than 10 years during the development of the ScotEID system, as a multi-species database for recording births, deaths and movements of livestock. The purpose of the system is to support disease prevention, control and eradication and the protection of public health, whilst maintaining national and international trade. The development of ScotMoves+ is the final element of additional functionality for the recording of cattle information onto ScotEID.

The following groups have been involved in an industry-SG working group during this work: National Farmers Union Scotland, Scottish Beef Association, Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, Scottish Crofters Federation, Scottish Dairy Cattle Association and Quality Meat Scotland.

The two pathfinder regional community climate hubs were launched on 6 September: The Northern Highlands and Islands Climate Action Hub will be delivered by Thurso Community Development Trust, and the North East Scotland Climate Action Network (NESCAN) Hub will build on the work of Aberdeen Climate Action.

Clear outcomes have been set allowing us to bring learning into the wider network as it evolves.

ScotEID in partnership with Scottish Government issued a press release in mid-September 2019 in relation to developments on cattle electronic identification (EID), electronic data transfer (EDT) and changes to systems for the registration of cattle in Scotland. The ScotEID team then completed more than 30 roadshow events across Scotland during the autumn and winter of 2019-2020, speaking to around 1800 cattle keepers.

The primary aim of the roadshows was to demonstrate EID technologies and gather views on the operation of the new systems on ScotEID for cattle identification, registration and movements. The feedback from these roadshows was positive and supportive of the use of EID technology. At present, CTS is unable to support the transition to EID and EDT, the ScotMoves + functionality will do so. Further information is available on the ScotEID website.

Sustainable agriculture in Scotland has a vital role in producing high quality food for the nation, helping to reduce carbon emissions, delivering wider environmental benefits and improved biodiversity, and ensuring we use appropriate land to allow us to meet our climate change targets.

We are taking a partnership approach to addressing climate change within agriculture. We are building on the work of the farmer-led groups, through the establishment of the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which is co-chaired by the President of the NFUS and has a number of farmers on the Board, and we are seeking wider stakeholder views through our consultation on ‘Agricultural Transition in Scotland: first steps towards our national policy’ which is open until 17 November 2021. We also have other existing networks through which we engage with farmers and land managers, including the Agriculture and Rural Development Stakeholder Group, the Farm Advisory Service, Farming for a Better Climate initiative, the Crofting Commission, the Integrating Trees Network and new initiatives being established for new entrants to farming.

An overview of the expected phases of the external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming can be found on the Scottish Government website at: Aquaculture: external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Terms of Reference for the independent review is available on the Scottish Government website at: Aquaculture: external review of the current regulatory processes involved in fish farming - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We asked the Salmon Interactions Working Group to consider the conclusions of the 2018 report by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Salmon Farming in Scotland , and to provide recommendations on a future interactions approach.

As committed to in the Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme, we will respond to the Salmon Interactions Working Group Report this month and there will be a consultation on the spatially adaptive sea lice risk assessment framework for fish farms which has been progressed by the technical working group of statutory bodies.

The regulatory review will help to inform what more can be done within the current regime to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the regulatory framework and consider options on how to deliver further reform in the longer term.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Farming for 1.5 report and will consider the recommendations carefully along with the other reports recently received, including the five farming sector farmer-led groups.

We have established the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which will contribute to the Scottish Government’s work to implement policy reform, incorporating the relevant recommendations of the farmer-led groups to cut emissions across agriculture, support the production of sustainable, high quality food, and design a new support system and approach.

The Board will create a package of measures, which we will fund, that can be agreed as part of our approach to COP 26. This National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022 with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this autumn. It should also be noted that Mike Robinson, co-chair of Farming 1.5, is a member of the Board.