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Wellies - February 06
ANYONE who takes a pride in keeping a lawn, bowling green or football pitch will be only too aware of the damage caused by one unwelcome guest that appears in fields at this time of year. Moles are a terrible pest, the tell-tale sign of small heaps of freshly turned soil can be see in fields, on grass verges, in gardens, in fact, in many areas of Highland Perthshire.
Farmland suffers in a number of ways; damage to grass cutting machinery from coming into contact with molehills, contamination of harvested grass, either silage or hay, with the earth. Livestock which are then fed the contaminated feed are at risk from a number of soil borne diseases such as listeriosis.
Strychnine Hydrochloride has been the preferred method of controlling moles for many years, with earthworms mixed with very small amounts of strychnine to make a poisoned bait, this being placed in the underground mole runs. The ‘Authorisation’ to bring strychnine into this country is due to run out at the end of August this year and as only 63kg was brought into the country last year, it really isn’t commercially viable for any company to make an application for a licence to import.
There are other methods of controlling moles, such as trapping and gassing, but these are very time consuming and not as effective as the strychnine. The use of strychnine is very strictly controlled; anyone using it must have attended a training course. The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department will only issue a permit for its use after a map showing molehills on the farm is submitted and an official has been out to inspect the molehills. At present strychnine is brought into this country under a European Union Derogation which gives an extension to an existing license.
NFU Scotland and the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association are amongst a number of organisations which are collecting evidence of damage caused by the moles. The case will be taken to the European Commission and hopefully the evidence presented will ensure the continued use of strychnine.
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The first meeting of the Highland Perthshire Branch of NFU Scotland took place on 25 January. Jane Anderson in the chair introduced Sue Hilder, the Union’s Access Officer. Scottish Natural Heritage part-funded the position, although Sue is based at NFU Headquarters at Ingliston.
The branch committee was given a very good presentation on matters connected with the statutory rights of access granted by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. After the presentation, local access issues were discussed at length, these included the conflicts between fishermen and rafters on the river, littering by campers on Lochtayside and wild camping at various locations throughout the branch. Sue had also done her research on our area before coming to the meeting and was clued up on the progress of the local core path network.
Having a dedicated Access Officer to provide advice to NFU members, either over the phone or on the ground is another example of the good work done by all those at union headquarters.
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One of the driest January’s in the last hundred years has been very kind to out-wintered livestock; however temperatures down to -11°c have meant a few nights with frozen water troughs in fields. Even though it’s cold, stock seem to perform better in dry conditions. It also makes it easier to feed them if you’re not trudging through wet, muddy fields.
Better weather may be just around the corner so it’s easy to forget that February and March can still provide some harsh winter weather. I’m sure it won’t be long before we’ve got our rainfall totals back up to normal and we’re back moaning about the weather ........as farmers do!
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