President's Blog - 25 February 2010

Having spent the last two days attending the English NFU conference in Birmingham, I find myself on the plane back to Edinburgh. The conference had a real political bent, and with a UK general election only weeks away, the politicians were eager to impress.

As so often happens in England and Wales, the TB issue dominated much of the session. With Mr. Benn still set against a badger cull, Wales engaging a trial cull and tens of thousands of cattle being slaughtered every year, the atmosphere was tense to say the least.

It brings home the importance of our TB free status in Scotland, and reinforces the need to improve still further our overall health status. Our own Cabinet Secretary announcement to consult on BVD eradication at our AGM last week is a very welcome development.

This also ties in with the climate change agenda, which was the other key focus of much of the discussion in Birmingham. Reducing the burden of animal (and plant) disease will greatly improve our efficiency, thereby reducing emissions per unit of production, which is the real key to success.

Our industry remains well placed to be a key contributor to emissions reductions, with BVD alone contributing 3% of our industries total.

The other excitement at Birmingham revolved round the expected 2 to3 hours of voting in the late afternoon, as 14 candidates competed for the 3 positions at the head of the union. Peter Kendal has remained as President, despite a challenger and he met the 75% mandate requirement to allow him to continue for a further 2-year term. The deputy and vice presidential posts had less certain outcomes but congratulations to Meurig Raymond on his re-appointment and to Gwyn Jones on joining the NFU’s top team.   We look forward to working with these gentlemen in the future.