The Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) has renewed calls to crofters to keep Scottish Government informed regarding the potential consequences of the inclement weather.
"My own observations are that the hardship is yet to come", said Donald Murdie, a representative for SCF on Skye. "When crofters find how far down they are on their silage and hay crops, this in turn will result in stock reduction and depressed prices in the autumn, leaving less cash flow for winter feeding."
Chief Executive of the Federation, Patrick Krause, added, "We have been in close contact with Scottish Government over the potential consequences of the slow start to the grazing season and the continued poor weather conditions. The minister for crofting, Dr Aileen McLeod has personally committed to government assistance should the need arise. We don’t want to cry wolf, but there were crofters facing putting their animals away when the grass was not coming as they couldn’t continue to buy in feed. Now there is grass but silage and hay crops are way down and the price of feed could therefore be high in the autumn."
