Reaction to Land Ownership Book Review
Some members of the local farming community feel a response to the review (highlighted in the March edition) of “Who Owns the World”, by Kevin Cahill is necessary.
Jane Anderson, Chairperson of the Highland Perthshire Branch of NFU Scotland, writes: “Without getting drawn into the wider debate on landownership, there are two misleading points which should be corrected from a local farming perspective.
"Our farming businesses are efficient. The subsidy comes, not to give farmers an ideal lifestyle, but from a historical reason of keeping food for the consumer cheap. Today’s farmer can be paid below the cost of production due to the power of the retailer, eg milk - average cost of production is 19p and the payment to the farms is 17p. |
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“Secondly, the idea that assets ie land, not cash, make you wealthy. This is only the case if you sell the asset. Local farmers owning the land for generations receive a meagre return and if they sold their land, would be out of a job!
“A sentence later in, the article does allude to this, but the two headline-grabbing statements on ‘efficiency’ and ‘subsidy and land equals wealth’ are highly misleading and misrepresent the reality of many farmers in this area. They produce high quality food in a sustainable environment which also supports the local economy.”
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