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Livestock & Forage
Does the hill shepherd get a fair share of the pie?
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<blockquote data-quote="Macsky" data-source="post: 7466764" data-attributes="member: 44120"><p>The history of crofting, like all history, is very relevant.</p><p></p><p>Crofts were specifically designed, at a time when folk were an awful lot more self sufficient than today, to be too small to be profitable to ensure the proprietors of an ample and cheap labour supply for the very profitable kelp harvest. If they weren’t profitable then, they certainly won’t be today, so if profitability is your only measure, what should be done? Punt out the unprofitable crofters? Then who gets the land? I’ll give you a clue, this has happened before! It certainly wouldn’t be the likes of us.</p><p></p><p>To say that history owes us nothing makes a mockery of the very high proportion of young men that left the area, never to return, to fight for the UK in various wars. Your ideas of ‘not wanting to be a charity case’ are just foolish pride, if you think the Highlands is in receipt than more of its share in subsidies, then go for a long drive, I doubt you’ll find many places with worse transport links and infrastructure.</p><p></p><p>The local library/swimming pool/sports facilities would never pay for themselves, should funding be axed for the likes of them? What about the NHS? These are essential services, but not as essential as food production.</p><p></p><p>I’m not saying that there aren’t any flaws in the system, or that it couldn’t be improved, and don’t worry, I’m certainly not getting upset, but I think looking at the bigger picture, the subsidies and grants available do an awful lot more good than harm, they enable the smaller producer to exist alongside the larger, and, to address the OP’s original question, they allow the hill shepherd to continue with a smaller slice of the pie, ensuring that the forwarders/finishers make enough from the job to come back for more next year.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Macsky, post: 7466764, member: 44120"] The history of crofting, like all history, is very relevant. Crofts were specifically designed, at a time when folk were an awful lot more self sufficient than today, to be too small to be profitable to ensure the proprietors of an ample and cheap labour supply for the very profitable kelp harvest. If they weren’t profitable then, they certainly won’t be today, so if profitability is your only measure, what should be done? Punt out the unprofitable crofters? Then who gets the land? I’ll give you a clue, this has happened before! It certainly wouldn’t be the likes of us. To say that history owes us nothing makes a mockery of the very high proportion of young men that left the area, never to return, to fight for the UK in various wars. Your ideas of ‘not wanting to be a charity case’ are just foolish pride, if you think the Highlands is in receipt than more of its share in subsidies, then go for a long drive, I doubt you’ll find many places with worse transport links and infrastructure. The local library/swimming pool/sports facilities would never pay for themselves, should funding be axed for the likes of them? What about the NHS? These are essential services, but not as essential as food production. I’m not saying that there aren’t any flaws in the system, or that it couldn’t be improved, and don’t worry, I’m certainly not getting upset, but I think looking at the bigger picture, the subsidies and grants available do an awful lot more good than harm, they enable the smaller producer to exist alongside the larger, and, to address the OP’s original question, they allow the hill shepherd to continue with a smaller slice of the pie, ensuring that the forwarders/finishers make enough from the job to come back for more next year. [/QUOTE]
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Does the hill shepherd get a fair share of the pie?
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