Chamber and committees

We will go on to the parts about breeding in later questions, so I will ask a supplementary to that.

If the direct payment were maintained in Scotland in the future, could there be, on the back of market demand, an increase in suckler herds here?

Do you realise that you looked as though you were milking some cows just then? [Laughter.] I ask Kate Rowell to respond.

There is a summary as part of the SAWC report, but the full report has not been published or given to us.

I want to pick up on one of the points that the GBGB made about the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s report, particularly its emphasis on the concern about the welfare standards for breeding and the importation of dogs from Ireland. What are you doing to develop a harmonised set of welfare standards for breeding?

Yes.

I will continue with the topic of mitigating risk and promoting food resilience. How is your organisation modelling for the future? It is expected that the use of new technologies and innovation in agriculture will increase gross domestic product and reduce emissions. The Scottish Government is seeking to reduce emissions in agriculture by 31 per cent by 2032. So far, not much progress has been made towards meeting that target.

There seems to be an emphasis in the SAWC report on that aspect of welfare but, in the context of the petition, surely there are—I made this point to Cathy Dwyer in the committee session in March—current regulations and animal welfare standards that can deal with the aspect of animal welfare to do with the importing of young animals, the number of puppies that one animal has and so on. Will you comment on that? That part of the report concerned me considerably.

Why has that not been published?

My apologies, convener, for being late due to the train. The point about abattoirs is interesting, so I am glad I caught that.

I know from experience in my constituency in the Borders—I am not sure whether it is because of the geography—that a lot of farmers are having to take their cattle a fair way south, with increased input costs to do that, because of the contraction of the smaller abattoir sector in Scotland. What is your view on that? Considering what you have just said, would you rather that Scottish cattle—bred, born and reared in Scotland—were killed in Scotland, or are you agnostic about it?