Plenty variety this week, with a couple of days on the hill loading for guests at the grouse and a long drive up to Invergarry for a well attended SGA area meeting which focused largely on red deer issues. Richard Townsend of Yorkshire Game outlined the major advances made in the marketing of Scottish venison over the last few years. It's now available in all the major multiples and on the menus of many catering chains to the extent that virtually no Scottish venison is exported. Contrast that with 2001 when 90% of our venison was going overseas - a fantastic achievement.
The irony now is that there isn't enough venison to satisfy demand and there's a real risk that rural Scotland won't be able to capitalise on the great strides forward Richard and other game dealers have made. Like us Richard is concerned about the way deer continue to be decimated in some places in order to satisfy the seemingly endless demand for tree regeneration, putting environmental objectives far ahead of vital economic concerns in parts of the country where few opportunities exist. The National Trust's mismanagement of their Mar Lodge estate - and the subsequent fine they're now facing for not meeting targets - is a reminder that the conservation agencies DON'T always know what the're talking about.
Another important development this week was the launch of the tail docking survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TAIL There are more details on the website, but if you're the owner of a working dog I urge you to fill in the survey which Glasgow University is undertaking for the Scottish Government's review of the tail docking legislation. It's absolutely essential that everyone responds as it could be our last chance to overturn the ridiculous ban.
And finally I've got to mention the highlight of the the last few days - the home baking produced by the stalkers wives in Invergarry for our tea after the meeting! It was a spectacular spread, so on behalf of everyone there, thank you. It certainly kept me going on the four and a half hour drive back to the Borders!