Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Crofters facing a growing crisis amid pandemic

The Scottish Crofting Federation says its members are feeling the impact of the current lockdown.
The Scottish Crofting Federation says its members are feeling the impact of the current lockdown.

Crofters are experiencing cash flow problems and difficulty accessing labour during the Covid-19 crisis, according to the Scottish Crofting Federation.

The organisation’s chairman, Yvonne White, said a survey of its members revealed that more than a third are worried about their cash flow during the coronavirus pandemic.

“This would normally be the time of year to start seeing money coming back in after the long winter, but it is not materialising,” said Ms White.

“Many crofters supply food and accommodation to the local market.

“Abattoirs have not been taking private kills, hotels and restaurants are closed and on-croft accommodation bookings are cancelled.”

She said one respondent reported having to give away all the eggs from 250 hens that are normally supplied to hotels and restaurants.

And another reported difficulty getting contractors and materials for essential work such as fencing.

While another reported problems accessing financial assistance for the loss of holiday rental income as it was not their main occupation, and still more told of a shortage of help on crofts including volunteers, students and family.

Ms White encouraged all crofters to complete the survey, regardless of whether they are SCF members or not.

“We need the information to feed into Scottish Government policy as we attempt to keep up Scottish food production in this very difficult time,” she added.

“It is obvious that crofters are suffering financial hardship due to the situation.

“As a gesture SCF will not be applying the annual inflationary subscription increase next week, but crofters still need concessions and targeted help from government if we are to survive this.”

The survey can be accessed online at www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/scfmembers