Farming leaders in Scotland are pressing the government to establish a fuel prioritisation scheme to avoid food supply problems, in the event of the current swine flu outbreak turning into a more severe pandemic this winter.

Highlighting a UK worst-case scenario of 2.5 million new cases of flu a week, National Farmers’ Union Scotland (NFUS) chief executive James Withers told FPJ that the government has the summer to prepare for what could be a very severe winter problem.

“I am a member of the RABS Food Group, which is responsible for reviewing contingency planning within the Scottish government,” he said. “We have been looking at what would happen to the collection and processing of soft fruit, livestock or milk in the event of illness causing shortages of hauliers, farm staff, workers in processing plants and supermarkets.

“There are definitely some dire consequences to be considered and I don’t think enough is being done at present.”

Withers added that in Tayside and Fife, Scotland’s main soft-fruit growing region, a pandemic could result in 3,000 people a week needing to be hospitalised.

“Hopefully, these figures will never come to pass but there are real concerns about the potential of the current virus to... re-emerge in a more virulent form,” he said. “If that was to happen, the food supply chain would be under extreme pressure.”

The union’s briefing for the government includes a list of specific fresh produce concerns. For those dealing with fruit and vegetables, for example, NFUS highlights problems relating to water supplies, essential for the on-farm washing of certain vegetables, and labour shortages - particularly a lack of foreign workers, which could cause major crop losses at harvest.

For the soft-fruit sector, the NFUS focuses on the constant need for access to agrochemicals and technical support services and the provision of seasonal labour.

“There are already seasonal labour supply pressures,” states the briefing. “Any further strain in this area, either through illness or a perceived fear of travelling to the UK to work, could have a catastrophic effect on the soft-fruit harvest in Scotland and across the UK.”