Farmers in Scotland are being urged to take part in a survey on soaring electricity prices to help show the damaging cost to rural businesses.
The online survey has been created by NFU Scotland (NFUS), which aims to use the results to help its lobbying approach.
A spokesman for the union said the findings would be collated ahead of a visit to Westminster in September.
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The survey follows a concerned call from one Scottish vegetable grower who contacted the union to explain his electricity bill cost increase.
His current electricity tariff of 12p/unit would run out at the end of September, the NFUS spokesman said. But the new contract rate quoted was 71p/unit.
That pushed up the grower’s annual electricity bill from about £140,000 to more than £800,000.
The level is unsustainable and would mean the grower could not afford to cool and store potatoes and vegetables through the autumn and winter.
NFUS president Martin Kennedy said he feared the response to prices from many growers would be to stop growing, storing or freezing produce.
Government inaction
He suggested the government had failed to appreciate the impact of energy costs on business viability.
“The huge surge in cost of electricity is affecting every individual and household,” said Mr Kennedy.
“But when it comes to the impact on businesses, particularly those delivering food security, there must be greater government understanding.
“Immediate action on electricity prices is needed for all households and businesses.”
NFUS rural business policy adviser Rhianna Montgomery explained that the union was aware of significant increases in bills and wanted to collate a series of case studies to present to the government.
“However, even if members do not wish to be used as a case study, we urge them to complete the survey, as any hard data we can collect before the survey closes on 7 September will be extremely beneficial,” she added.
