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Executive Summary
1. Livestock contributed 53% of Scotland's agricultural output (worth £1.916 billion) in 2006. In terms of value, the cattle sector (beef and dairy) is the most important Scottish agricultural sector, contributing an estimated 36% of Scottish agricultural output in 2006 with 8% coming from the sheep sector and 3% from the pig sector.
2. In 2007 there were approximately 14,080 Less Favoured Area ( LFA) cattle and sheep holdings with a further 1,769 lowland cattle and sheep holdings in Scotland. There are only 1,429 dairy farmers and 185 specialist pig producers remaining in Scotland. The number of dairy farmers fell by nearly 10% between 2004 and 2007 and there currently is extreme pressure on margins in the specialist pig sector as a result of high grain and energy prices.
3. The downward trend in the number of full time farmers and spouses (both fell 20% over the last 10 years) continues and now half of all occupiers of farms, crofts and small-holdings are engaged in farming for less than 50% of their time. It is apparent that farmers are becoming increasingly reliant on non-farming income streams to maintain farms and farming families.
4. According to the June Census returns for 2007 there were an estimated 7,490,700 sheep, 1,897,180 cattle and 456,750 pigs in Scotland. 30% of holdings have sheep, over a quarter containing cattle, whilst less than 2% have pigs. Dairy and pig farming have particular regional bias with two-thirds of pigs being located in the North East and three-quarters of dairy cows being located in the South West.
5. There are significant variances in herd and flock sizes across the Scottish regions. The average dairy herd in South West Scotland is 92% larger than the average dairy herd in the Highlands and Islands. This is more pronounced when considering total cattle per holding where farms in the South West have more than 2.5 times as many cattle per holding than the Highlands. Eastern Scotland contains the largest sheep flocks, carrying more than 3.5 times as many breeding ewes and nearly 4 times the amount of sheep as those in the Highlands and Islands. This reflects the differences in fertility and climate between the regions, but also in the nature of crofting agriculture in place in much of the North West of Scotland.
Pigs
6. The national pig herd shrunk by nearly 30% between 1997 and 2007 although there has only been a 3% fall since 2004 due to improvements in the fortunes of the pig sector after the crisis of the late 1990s.
7. The breeding herd was around 46,000 in June 2007 with an additional 400,000 pigs for slaughter. Due to the pig breeding cycle there are about 250,000 pigs for slaughter that are not accounted for in the June Census returns (i.e. they are born, reared and slaughtered between the annual census dates). This means that the 46,000 breeding pigs actually produced about 650,000 prime pigs for slaughter in 2006/2007 rather than the 408,000 suggested by the June Census returns. The majority of these prime pigs are slaughtered in Scotland, and the industry is heavily reliant on a single slaughter house.
8. Pig numbers took a significant fall in the late 1990s as a result of the pig crisis, with a 40% fall in total breeding pigs between 1997 and 2007. Despite some relative stability post 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease ( FMD) outbreak the industry has continued to shrink at an average rate of 4.3% per annum since 2002 with the breeding herd declining by an average of 5.9% per annum over the same period.
9. Aberdeenshire is vital to the Scottish pig industry with a quarter of all holdings with breeding sows and 28% of units with gilts in pig located there. Aberdeenshire and North East Moray account for around two thirds of all Scotland's pigs with Aberdeenshire alone containing about 57% of the national herd.
10. As the intensive pig industry is geared for all year production (constant supply) there is no discernible pattern to monthly movements as pigs move from breeders to finishers and from finishers to slaughter.
11. There were 708,000 movements of live pigs (excluding movements within parishes) between July 2006 and June 2007 with the vast majority being moved directly between farms. These movements include breeding stock, but are dominated by the movement of young pigs from breeding units to finishers. Although very few live pigs come into Scotland from England and Wales, in contrast, Scottish pig producers are intrinsically linked to England and Wales with 123,000 pigs moving cross-border from Scotland (14.7% of all Scottish "live" off parish movements). Direct farm to farm movements dominate (83.4%) although a higher proportion of movements south of the border (than internally within Scotland) are through markets (which are likely to be collection points). This clearly has implications for the pig industry (finishing) should any future cross-border movement restrictions of pigs be implemented.
12. There is a significant difference between the sheep and cattle industries and the pig industry, with the latter having much fewer movement routes, less reliance on markets and a near total reliance on direct farm to farm "live" movements.
13. Between July 2006 and June 2007 617,161 pigs were slaughtered on the Scottish mainland. The Scottish pig industry is largely self-contained with only 538 pigs coming from England and Wales for slaughter. 4% of the pigs slaughtered come from the Inner Hebrides (direct from farm to slaughter) with the remainder coming from the within the mainland itself. 2,464 Scottish pigs were slaughtered in England and Wales with all but a handful moving directly from farm to slaughterhouse.
Sheep
14. The national sheep flock has fallen by 22% since 1997 with a fall in about 1 million sheep (56% lambs and 44% ewes) amid the 2001 FMD crisis (which were never restocked). The advent of the Single Farm Payment coincides with further reductions in sheep numbers with a 6% fall in total national flock between 2004 and 2007 as producers react to a market based approach coupled with the move away from direct headage based subsidies.
15. Nearly 70% of holdings in Shetland have sheep, with high levels of sheep farming also prevalent in Argyllshire, Caithness, Sutherland and the Scottish Borders. According to the June Census 2007, the central belt and North East have lowest proportions of farms engaging in sheep production (because of the availability of better quality arable land). The timing of the census means that some of these arable farms in those regions that purchase store lambs for finishing in the autumn / winter are excluded from the official statistics.
16. The Scottish Borders have the highest sheep densities in Scotland and also the largest average flock size. Although the Western Isles and Shetland have the lowest average flock sizes in Scotland (symptomatic of crofting) they have some of the highest sheep densities in Scotland, meaning any restrictions on movement impact on a large number of small producers.
17. The sheep industry is extremely dynamic, with large autumnal movements of sheep, to other farms (store trade) or to slaughter (prime lamb trade). These movements started in August with quarter of a million movements to slaughter alone in 2006, with a further 330,000 live movements to farms. Caithness sees the start of this trade with early sales of sale of breeding ewes, gimmers, prime and store lambs. September and October see the largest monthly movement of sheep as the autumn store and prime lamb sales kick in across the whole of Scotland and trade in gimmers and ewe lambs for replacement stock takes place. In September 2006 there were 665,000 live movements off farms (store and breeding stock) with a further 517,000 movements in October. September 2006 also saw the movement of 230,000 sheep to slaughter with a further 204,000 in October.
18. There was an upsurge in movements of sheep to slaughter (230,000) in March 2007 as over-wintered lambs and cast ewes were sold off prior to the bulk of lambing starting. March and April also saw an upturn in the movements of live sheep off farms (230,000) as off wintered hoggs are returned. March to May sees relative calmness in terms of sheep movements as much of Scotland is engaged in lambing or post-lambing activities.
19. Sales of live sheep to England and Wales are very important for the Scottish industry with around 1 million live animals sold cross-border. The vast bulk of these are, perhaps unsurprisingly, sourced from the Borders, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire meaning any restrictions on cross-border trade would have largest initial impact in the South of Scotland (initial because it would have knock on effects on the store lamb and cast ewe trade, thus impacting on farms throughout Scotland).
20. The cross-border trade is also vitally important for the movement of animals to slaughter with just under 1 million Scottish sheep slaughtered in England and Wales between July 2006 and June 2007. Only 37% of these slaughter movements were direct from the farm to the abattoir with nearly 60% going from farms to abattoir via a market. Most of these sheep were sourced in the Scottish Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire with some coming from Aberdeenshire. There will also be a significant amount of cull ewes within this total with large ethnic markets for mutton in England.
21. Nearly two thirds of all sheep slaughtered in Scotland move direct from farm to abattoir, with nearly a third moving through markets.
22. Some 205,447 (15%) sheep slaughtered in Scotland are sourced from England and Wales with all but a few moving directly from farm to abattoir. 15,000 sheep were slaughtered on Shetland between July 2006 and June 2007 with a further 14,000 slaughtered on Orkney, 5,435 in the Western Isles and only a handful in the inner Hebrides (excluding Skye and Raasay). Despite the numbers slaughtered on the islands in 2006/07 there was still movement of sheep off the islands for slaughter on the mainland with 7,935 coming from Orkney, 4,070 from Shetland, 7,306 from the Inner Hebrides and 186 from the Western Isles.
23. Very small numbers of sheep were sent directly to slaughter from parishes in the North, the West and islands of Scotland with a reliance on sheep coming forward from Aberdeenshire, upper Tayside, and areas in the South such as the Borders, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Stirlingshire.
Cattle
24. Cattle numbers fell by 9% between 1997 and 2007 although this was largely due to a 6% fall during the 2001 FMD crisis. Post 2001 FMD there was a modest recovery in cattle numbers although, as with sheep, since the introduction of the Single Farm Payment there has been a 3% reduction in cattle numbers (since 2005) due to the reducing national beef herd (the dairy herd is relatively stable).
25. High proportions of holdings in Dumfries and Galloway (45%), South Ayrshire (40%) and Argyll and Bute (39%) have cattle. This contrasts to Skye and Lochalsh and the Shetlands where less than 17% of holdings have cattle.
26. The largest cattle farms are located in the South of Scotland with the largest "average" herds found in Dumfries and Galloway (239), South Ayrshire (211), East Ayrshire (199) and the Scottish Borders (199). Orkney is very different from the other Scottish islands and the North and North West regions since it contains relatively high numbers of cattle per holding (144). Parishes around Ayrshire and the Solway Firth coast were the most cattle dense in Scotland (high numbers of dairy farms) in 2007.
27. Store calves under 6 months old tend to be sold from the areas where the dairy sector dominates (South West). With older store calves (6 months to 2 years old) there are sales from many of the suckler herds in the west and south to specialist finishers (mixed farms) in the Aberdeenshire and around Dumfries (these two areas are prominent in the purchase of store cattle).
Dairy
28. In 2007 the dairy breeding herd was about 243,000 cows and heifers including 170,820 cows and heifers in milk, 27,150 cows in calf (dry) and 44,640 heifers in calf (representing a 4 year replacement policy). The national breeding dairy herd was relatively stable during the last decade, falling by 3.3% in 2000 because of market pressures and by 5.5% in 2001, largely because of FMD. Since then the dairy sector relative stability in terms of size of national herd.
29. The South West of Scotland dominates the dairy industry with 16% of East Ayrshire, 14% of South Ayrshire, 13% of Dumfries and Galloway and 12% of North Ayrshire holdings having dairy cows and heifers in milk.
30. The largest "average" dairy herds are found in Dumfries and Galloway (130 cows and heifers in milk per farm) Helensburgh and Lomonds (128), North East Moray (125) and East Lothian (125).
31. The large number of producers coupled with large average herd sizes means that East Ayrshire has the highest density of dairy cattle in Scotland with 20 dairy cows and heifers in milk per square kilometre (km 2), followed by Dumfries and Galloway (19/km 2) and South Ayrshire (17/km 2). These areas are where the largest impacts of any future movement restrictions affecting the dairy sector would be felt.
32. 69% of all "live" dairy movements were directly from farm to farm with 19% moving from farm to farm via a market between July 2006 and June 2007.
33. 38,500 movements from England and Wales between July 2006 and June 2007 accounted for 44.5% of all "live" dairy cattle movements onto Scottish parishes.
Beef
34. In June 2007 there were 517,670 beef cows and heifers in Scotland including 378,280 cows and heifers with calf at foot, 93,330 cows in calf and 46,060 heifers in calf (representing a 10 year replacement policy).
35. After a fall of nearly 6% of the breeding herd in 2001 during the FMD crisis the number of beef cows and heifers remained relatively stable until 2007 where it fell by around 3%. This latter downward trend has been explained by some commentators as being a result of farmers finally adjusting to the Single Farm Payment and a market based approach to farming, whilst others argue it is attributable to farmers reacting to the closure of the Older Cattle Disposal Scheme ( OCDS) on 31 December 2008.
36. Unlike sheep with an annual production cycle, beef production cycles can take between 30 to 40 months from breeding to slaughter. This means that there is a time lag between changes in the breeding herd and changes in the number of finished and store cattle. This has implications for supplies to processors, since the system is slow to react to changes in demand, meaning processors sometimes need to import supplies during periods of excess demand.
37. Areas with high proportions of units containing beef cows with calf at foot in June 2007 included Badenoch and Strathspey (31%), Argyll and the Bute Islands (30.6%), Dumfries and Galloway (28%), Helensburgh and Lomonds (30%), and Orkney (26%). In comparison to the Western Isles (6%) and Shetland (8%) farmers in Orkney were much more likely to have beef cows (and are more similar to the Inner Hebrides)
38. The largest, average, beef herds were located in East Lothian (66 cows per holding), Scottish Borders (65), Dumfries and Galloway (61) and Badenoch and Strathspey (57). The result of the larger herd sizes and prevalence of beef production means that Orkney had the highest density of beef cows (with calf at foot) in Scotland in June 2007 with 25 per km 2.
39. There is considerable variation in the extent of beef production within regions with very high proportions of holdings containing beef cattle in parts of Lanarkshire, the Borders, upper Tayside and the Grampians and Argyll (including Islay and Jura).
40. Of the 411,503 "live" beef cattle movements onto Scottish parishes between July 2006 and June 2007 3,156 were onto Inner Hebrides parishes and 4,804 onto Orkney parishes. Only a quarter of the movements were directly between farms with 64% moving between farms via a market. The reliance on movements through markets was even stronger in Orkney with 73% of all movements onto parishes going between farms via a market.
41. There were also 28,000 "live" beef cattle movements to England and Wales, accounting for 7% of Scottish "live" off-parish movements, with about two-thirds moving between farms via a market and a quarter moving directly between farms. There were 35,664 "live" beef cattle movements into Scotland from England and Wales representing 8.5% of all "live" beef cattle movements onto Scottish parishes.
42. From September through to November 2006 there was net outward movement from many of the suckler cow herds located in the Southern Uplands, central and West Highlands, the North and North West and the islands as store calves were sold to finishers and intermediaries in the North East and South of Scotland. Parishes on the East coast (specifically Aberdeenshire) and around Dumfries are where the majority of arable based beef finishers are located (store cattle purchasers). These areas were where the majority of slaughter movements originate.
43. Between July 2006 and June 2007 420,557 beef cattle were slaughtered in mainland Scotland, with about 10% coming from England and Wales and small amounts from the Scottish islands. 83% of the animals originating from mainland Scotland went directly to abattoir from the farm with 12% via a market whilst 51% of English and Welsh beef cattle slaughtered in Scotland came directly from farms to abattoirs with 47% coming via a market.
44. 11,815 Scottish beef cattle were slaughtered in England and Wales with 73% moving directly from farm to slaughter and 22% being sold via a market.
45. 7,467 beef cattle were slaughtered in Orkney between July 2006 and June 2007 with about 200 coming from the mainland and Shetland. About 85% went directly from farm to slaughter with about 10% going via a market (as 6% were slaughtered in their originating parish we can not determine their market route).
46. As with sheep, very small numbers of cattle are sent directly to slaughter from parishes in the Highlands and Islands with the exception of Caithness, Orkney and the area surrounding Inverness and the Black Isle. The vast majority of cattle being presented for slaughter are coming from a distinct "Z" shape originating in North East Moray traversing down the East coast, through the central belt, down the South West coast and along the border to the South East of Scotland
Other Livestock
47. In June 2007 it was estimated that there were 6,380 farmed deer, 3,830 goats and 32,140 horses in Scotland.
48. In the last decade there was a 65% decline in the Scottish goat herd, a 25% fall in the national farmed deer herd and a steady rise in the number of horses (26%).
Slaughter
49. The Food Standards Agency has licensed 38 slaughter houses (with 8 located in the Scottish Islands) and 83 cutting plants in Scotland. All but three of the slaughterhouses are licensed to slaughter cattle with 29 licensed to slaughter sheep. Although 24 are registered to slaughter pigs the reality is that the majority of pigs in Scotland are slaughtered in a single slaughterhouse.
50. During 2007 abattoirs in Scotland slaughtered 488,268 clean cattle, 1,409,260 clean sheep and 735,718 clean pigs. There are very low levels of cull cows and cull ewes slaughtered in Scotland. A large number of cull ewes are slaughtered in England and Wales annually (high demand from the ethnic market for mature sheep), representing a major logistical challenge during any periods of movement restriction.
51. Recent research estimates that 55% of lambs produced in Scotland are slaughtered elsewhere in the UK, with only 45% being slaughtered at home. This is partly because of lack of capacity but also to do with economies of scale and proximity to the consumer. QMS report that in 2005 1.4 million sheep were processed through 30 Scottish abattoirs (with 5 accounting for 75% of the kill) and about 50% of lambs produced in Scotland are slaughtered outside Scotland (as are most cull ewes).
52. QMS also reported that 51,000 tonnes of pig meat were processed by 20 abattoirs in Scotland in 2005, although rationalisation in the industry means that there is one dominant processor.
53. QMS further reported that 29 abattoirs processed 530,000 beef animals in 2005 with 9 key abattoirs (each with an annual throughput of over 25,000 animals) accounting for about 85% of the total cattle slaughtered in Scotland. Three companies account for around 36% of the beef kill and seven companies for around 68%, with no company doing more than 15% of the cattle kill.
54. QMS estimated the turnover of the primary processing sector in Scotland to be around £725 million in 2006 with 3,700 people directly employed in the sector (a turnover of £196,000 per direct employee).
55. Two-thirds of meat processed in Scotland is sold to the rest of the UK and £32 million of lamb, beef and pig meat is exported. England and Wales are the biggest market for Scottish red meat accounting for almost two-thirds of beef, 45% of sheep meat and three-quarters of the pig meat leaving Scottish primary processors. Exports remain very important for the Scottish sheep meat.
56. The extent of product processing varies considerably with 32% of the value of pig meat being sold as processed items. About a third of the value of sheep meat being sold continues to be sold in carcase format (compared to only 14% beef and 16% pig meat).
57. The multiple retailers coupled with the independent retailers the high-street account for 76% of Scottish beef products, 77% of Scottish sheep meat products and 84% of Scottish pig meat products.
58. In 2005 about 47% of the beef retail value went to the retail sector, with 7% to the processing sector and about 45% to the farmers whilst 46% of the retail value of lamb went to the retail sector, about 9% to the processing sector and 45% to the farmers.
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