Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

No change to policy until 2024 : Ewing

A long transition is dependant on funding from the UK Government
A long transition is dependant on funding from the UK Government

It will be 2024 before Scottish farmers see any changes to agricultural policy if Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing gets his way.

Mr Ewing told Scottish meat wholesalers at a conference in Glasgow that he wanted to see a transition period of five years beyond the end of Brexit negotiations in 2019, making it seven years before farmers need to adapt to a new world order.

He said the present schemes were so complicated it would be “utterly impossible” to bring in a brand new policy in less than two years,  far less to administer it.

And he admitted: “I have to say we’re having trouble enough administering the current scheme, never mind replacing it with a  brand new one. I’ll be quite candid about that.”

Mr Ewing said he had told UK Farming Minister George Eustice that he wanted transitional arrangements which would involve the continuation of existing schemes – with some amendments – in order to provide “clarity and certainty” for farmers and crofters .

And he called on members of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers (SAMW), the farmers’ union and Quality Meat Scotland to work with him to “buttress” his view that continued Government support was essential.

He added: “You have the facts  to demonstrate we need a period of five years  where there will be a continuance of the current regime. During that period, of course, we will have time to devise new policies.”

However Mr Ewing admitted the funding for his approach was dependant on the support of the UK Government, and no commitment had been forthcoming from Mr Eustice.

“Defra will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into carrying on the existing schemes or any form of replacements,” he said.

Pressed on whether the Scottish Government would pick up the tab if the funding does not materialise, he said: “Plainly we don’t have  £500 million to replace post-EU funding and I don’t think the UK Government is denying this.

“I told George that everyone who is reliant on the £500 million in Scotland was increasingly agitated about the lack of any clarity about funding post-Brexit.”

New SAMW president, Frank Clark appeared less convinced that such a long transition was necessary.

He said: “Whether the correct timescale for this is two years or as long as five, the important point is that we must have a smooth transition into the post-Brexit structure. The risk is that if we don’t get such a period, the industry will be plunged into chaos while new procedures and regulations are put in place and we can’t afford that.”

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk