Crofting Foundation Welcomes EU Parliament Sheep Report

The Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) has welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee of the Aylward Report on the EU sheep industry. The report, by Irish MEP Liam Aylward, calls for action by the European Commission to reverse the decline in sheep numbers and proposes a range of measures to boost the sector, including environmental payments for sheep retention; specific support for native and traditional breeds; a task force to work on the viability, competitiveness and profitability of the industry; regulations on country of origin labelling; and abandonment of the “ill thought out, illogical and unworkable scheme” to introduce electronic tagging.