*NEW* NSA Scotland Member Newsletter - January Edition

NSA Scotland are delighted to announce the second edition of the new NSA Scotland Member Newsletter.

This will be published on a bi-monthly basis to keep NSA Scotland members up to date with what is happening in the Scottish Sheep industry and within the organisation. 

Please get in touch with Grace Reid if you would like to feature in the next edition or have suggestions of things you would like to hear about!

We hope you enjoy reading it!

https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/workspace/scot-pdfs/nsa-scotland-janfeb-2021.pdf

#Run1000

From 1st to 31st January Jen (NSA Scotland Chair) and Grace (NSA Scotland Coordinator) will be taking part in the #Run1000 challenge aiming to walk and run as many miles as possible to raise awareness of mental wellbeing in rural areas. This is part of the Five Nations #Run1000 which challenges Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland and New Zealand in a competition to run a minimum of 1000 miles in January! It isn't about the speed or the distance, it is all about the taking part no matter how little the distance is, every mile is counted. And all money raised goes directly to supporting eight fantastic charities. Scotland’s chosen charity this year will again be RSABI alongside 7 other fantastic charities, all of whom, provide mental health support for those within the rural sector. And if you can’t take part then please do consider donating to #Run1000 and cheer all the participants on from afar throughout the month of January. To keep an eye on Team Scotland’s progress, click here.

NZ FTA - Dismayed, Disappointed and Worse... Not Surprised

It has been announced under the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that New Zealand exporters will be able to send 35,000 tonnes of lamb to the UK tariff-free for the first four years. This will then rise to 50,000 tonnes for 10 years before quotas are removed altogether - similar to what has previously been outlined with Australia.

NSA Scotland Chair, Jen Craig comments: "NSA Scotland is dismayed yet again that our elected representatives in Westminster are showing a complete lack of understanding of how their new trade deals are likely to impact on the sheep sector. Yet another tariff free access for a major sheep producing nation to the UK could be devastating for Scottish sheep farmers.The deal offers a lot to NZ sheep farmers and very little to UK sheep farmers and that is completely unacceptable. Our sheep farmers time and time again have had looming threats held over their heads and whilst Brexit was promised to be an opportunity, we have not yet seen any reward throughout the FTA process to date. The international trade secretary said British farmers should not be concerned about increased lamb imports because the lambing seasons were different in the UK and New Zealand. This statement is wholly inadmissible and whilst factually correct its simplest form, it is obvious that other factors come into play. Our nation's sheep farmers strive to produce the most natural, sustainable and nutritious protein source globally and the recognition and reward for this is sorely in need of improvement. We need significant safeguards and commitment shown to our industry and equivalent standards of production is a starting point."