TWELVE Scots farmers received compensation payments of more than £1m for livestock slaughtered during the foot and mouth cull.

Executive figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that 3,000 farmers in Scotland received cheques of up to £4.2m to compensate them for herds lost in 2001.

The second highest award was for £2.6m, with 10 farmers receiving payments of between £1m and £1.6m.

Three others were paid more than £900,000. Fifty-three received compensation of between £500,000 and £900,000.

Most of the farmers are believed to be from Dumfries and Galloway, where the disease affected 176 farms.

Elaine Murray, Labour MSP for Dumfries who obtained the information, said she was astonished at the number of payments made and the level of compensation arising from the outbreak, which cost Scotland £334m.

“People at the time felt very sorry for farmers, but some people will also resent how much compensation farmers got when other businesses that were affected didn’t receive any,” she said.

One MSP, who asked not to be named, added: “I have every sympathy with the farmers who lost cattle, but I have absolutely no doubt that some overvaluation took place when the compensation packages were being put together. Some of the amounts that have been paid out beggar belief.”

Jim Goldie, a farmer from Dumfriesshire whose herd of pedigree Limousin and Charollais cattle was destroyed, is understood to have received one of the biggest payouts.

Goldie, who declined to comment last week, had previously defended the payment saying: “Outsiders may think we have got a lot of money, but we have seen our lives destroyed. The money we got was for the value of our stock, but we got nothing for the income we lost.”

David Mitchell, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, defended the payments: “There were some huge farms involved, many with pedigree stock, and people often saw a lifetime’s work disappear. Some of the figures may appear large, but they are relative to the business and to the value of the animals.”

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