Tam Scott alias Duke Buccleuch

[james armstrong]

Here's a statistic  from BBC Farming Today ,9thMayv
Only 2.7% of UK farmers are under the age of 35.
A young farmer was interviewed about the difficulty of getting started.
My thoughts
Not surprising since farms are getting larger and larger as, it is said,  200 acres is not a large farm.
200 acres at £5,000 an acre costs £1million.
Then to start up you need working capital for stock, feed, seed, fertiliser, machinery , credit etc.
and for living until the market cheque comes in.

Currently,  the CAP regime takes peoples' taxes from incomes and converts it to capital as cheques for farmers allocated  according to -not Their need- not the needs of  the national farm the "British estate",  but according to the traditional land ownership   much of which was determined at the  dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536.  CAP is largely paid on an acreage basis. 

>From my knowledge of Scottish history , Tam Scott  was rewarded by King James iv of Scotland for ridding the borders of  a well known local cattle theif, called Armstrong. 
The award was the title Duke pf Buccleuch and with it went the debated border lands in vast acres .

To day Scott ( Tom Dick or Jock) is the name of the  Duke of Buccleuch and he still owns the same acres.
His is not an isolated  case in UK.   Some large proportion of UK land has never changed hands for hundreds of years (and so is not registered in the Land Registry) 

Equally relevant is that CAP payments are allocated in proportion to the amount of agricultural land owned, which in Mr Scott's case means that he is one of the largest  receivers of CAP cheques each year at £549,000.

The iniquity of CAP is that it converts earned income into  much needed agricultural capital- then gives it to the wrong people.
Not the entrants leaving agricultural college  full of new ideas and energy, and who don't have the capital needed. CAP  gifts the capital
(it could be loaned) to those who already either have or inherit the land -  capital-  and have the   security to borrow capital.

The result is to drive up the price of land  and deliver a double whammy to  potential farmers. 

The harmful political result of CAP - stagnation in agriculture and  greater division between the  rich and poor needs to be told.
That is why a CAP leaflet campaign is needed . The text and illustrations are  going to the printers to-morrow. 
James          
 		 	   		  
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