To help Scottish farmers and crofters tackle the anxiety of admin backlogs, agricultural charity RSABI is trialing a new, confidential support service specifically for cattle registration worries.
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How to use it: Call RSABI’s free 24-hour helpline at 0808 1234 555 (it won't show up on your phone bill) or email helpline@rsabi.org.uk to request a specialist callback.
You can also contact ScotEID (01466 794323) or your local RPID office directly for early guidance.
New Service Offering Cattle Registration Guidance
Farmers or crofters who are anxious about their cattle registrations, for a variety of reasons, are being offered a new service organised by contacting agricultural charity, RSABI.
The service, which is being launched on a six-month trial basis from June, will see farmers and crofters being able to request confidential advice and guidance from an independent cattle registration specialist, simply by calling the charity’s 24 hour helpline – 0808 1234 555 – or emailing helpline@rsabi.org.uk.
The aim is to encourage farmers who may find themselves struggling with any aspect of cattle registrations to seek help and advice at as early a stage as possible, before things start to spiral into greater difficulties.
“It is estimated that around 25% of Scottish farmers are dyslexic and this is one of a number of reasons that people can struggle with keeping cattle registrations up to date,” said Carol McLaren, Chief Executive of RSABI.
“Unexpected challenges in farming and family life can mean paperwork can sometimes start to slip and, whether due to bereavement, accident, injury or health conditions, important administration like cattle registrations can start to fall behind when life gets really tough.
“In situations where the family members who lead on this work develop an illness such as dementia there is the potential for errors to creep in, and poor mental health, extreme weather or financial worries can all have a negative impact.
“The problem is that when something goes wrong with one part of the farm or family life, there can be a domino effect which impacts the whole business. And if calf registrations fall behind it can be surprisingly hard to catch up and things can start to snowball. Sometimes the person responsible for this area of the business is ashamed or embarrassed and keeps things to themselves while becoming very anxious that things may start to get out of hand.”
Unfortunately, there can be a temptation to simply ignore the situation but by avoiding taking steps to address the problem, she said, things will only continue to head in the wrong direction and a bigger muddle and more worry is usually the result.
The message is for farmers or crofters who fall behind or are worried about their situation to contact ScotEID (on 01466 794323 or email help@scoteid.com) as soon as possible to have a chat. By flagging things at an early stage, ScotEID can offer guidance and help as far as possible to try to get them back on track.
Farmers and crofters can also contact the Scottish Government, via the rural payments and inspections division teams across the country (RPID offices) who will provide advice and aim to support farmers wherever possible.
“We recognise, however, that sometimes people can hesitate to take steps and our hope is that this new service, arranged confidentially through RSABI’s Helpline, will help to increase understanding of the process and build confidence by getting in touch with us.
“The independent cattle registration expert working alongside RSABI will offer clear guidance to farmers and crofters on how to take steps to contact officials to raise their concerns, and also give an indication of what response they might expect to receive, depending on their individual situations.
“Our main priority will be to prevent anxiety and stress increasing and situations deteriorating. We will review the impact of the service over the six month trial period to assess how valuable it is to farmers and crofters who find themselves in a difficult situation.”
To use the new service farmers or crofters with concerns about their cattle registrations should call RSABI’s free confidential helpline on 0808 1234 555 and request a call back to chat through their specific situation.
RSABI offers free practical, financial, and emotional support including counselling services, delivered quickly after receiving the initial enquiry. Its free confidential support service is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year, by calling 0808 1234 555 (calls won’t show up on phone bills) or through a confidential webchat service, available on RSABI’s website www.rsabi.org.uk.