Around 250,000 light lambs that should have already been slaughtered and shipped to European markets now face starvation because of the onset of winter and of a lack of grazing.

The export markets for which these sheep are bred have been closed for most of the past two months and these markets will only reopen, subject to conditions, on Friday.

Light lambs are usually roasted whole in Europe and there is scant domestic demand.

Under the scheme, farmers will be paid £15 per animal, which will then go to abattoirs for humane slaughter. Some carcasses will be rendered allowing use of skins and fat for biodiesel and the remainder will be incinerated. They will not enter the human food chain.

The scheme is estimated to cost between £5m-6m, depending on uptake levels. The Scottish Government will seek to recover the money it is ploughing into this emergency solution from the UK Government in due course, with backing from opposition parties and the NFUS.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, said: "The foot and mouth crisis has left hundreds of thousands of sheep stranded on our hills facing starvation and it is quite clear that we have to act now to prevent any more suffering.

"We are already getting isolated reports of lambs dying. We cannot countenance the prospect of this continuing given the impact not only on the welfare of the animals but also on those farmers who would otherwise face watching their flocks starve to death.

"Scotland is facing this problem earlier than other parts of the UK because our grazing cycle is one month ahead. The Scottish Government strongly believes the moral and financial responsibility for this crisis lies with the UK Government. It should bear the costs of this scheme but action is needed now and we will provide funding on an emergency interim basis and seek to recover this from Defra in due course."

Lochhead said the Government had developed the scheme in consultation with farmers, vets and animal welfare organisations and that it had made direct approaches in Brussels to the Commission to speed the process up.

"Time is of the essence. There may be opportunities for some of these lambs to be exported from 12 October but any delay in implementing the scheme will simply cause more suffering to these sheep."

"We will monitor its progress and uptake over coming weeks and keep options under review."

Scotland's Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne said: "It is clear that a real welfare problem is emerging. This scheme is essential to prevent a catastrophe of animal suffering on a large scale.

"All animals entering the scheme would have been slaughtered and their meat exported. However, with the lack of availability of this market we must ensure that welfare of these animals is not compromised."

Mike Flynn, Chief Superintendent for the SSPCA said that is fully supported the proposed sheep welfare scheme, and that it would offer the Scottish Government any aid to ensure that the aim of the scheme is transparent and met.

However Tory environment spokesman John Scott John Scott, said that while the announcement was good news, he would have preferred to have seen the scheme brought forward two weeks earlier.

"It is now vital that the scheme be implemented as soon as possible so as to relive the already devastating conditions prevalent on Scottish hills.

"I also fully support the Scottish Government in their efforts to secure reimbursement from the UK Government, at whose door responsibility must lie."

NFUS President Jim McLaren said that this represented another dark day in what is turning out to be the "autumn from hell" for Scotland’s livestock industry, and called the scheme an "awful necessity".

“Many farmers will struggle with the concept of the lambs, which they helped come into the world this spring, being disposed of.  However it will at least bring some relief to them as the welfare crisis they are facing can now be eased.

“We have had reports coming in of lambs dying already because the grass is gone and the weather is closing in.  The condition of tens of thousands of lambs that are still on farms is rapidly deteriorating because of the lack of feed and, worse still, they are eating the grass that the ewes rely on over the Winter.  If our breeding flock suffers losses over the Winter, the consequences for the long-term future Scottish sheep industry don’t bear thinking about.

“The fact that the UK Government has still refused to pick up the cost of this scheme is nothing short of a disgrace.  The Scottish Government has stepped in and that is absolutely critical, but the negligence and inaction in London will not be forgotten by Scottish farmers.”

The voluntary scheme is aimed at lambs under 25kg, and will operate for a maximum period of ten weeks.

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