NFU Scotland welcomes further clarity on future agricultural support

Addressing farmers at the Quality Meat Scotland Breakfast event at the Royal Highland Show, rural affairs secretary Mairi Gougeon confirmed producers will continue to receive direct payments throughout the agricultural transition and outlined plans for new eligibility criteria to be introduced.

From 2025, farmers and crofters will be required to adopt the following practices to qualify for support payments:

• a ‘Whole Farm Plan’ which will include soil testing, animal health and welfare declaration, carbon audits, biodiversity audits and supported business planning
• protections for peatlands and wetlands to help farmers restore these vital habitats to sequester more carbon
• meet new conditions to the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme to help cut emissions intensity and make beef production more efficient

According to the cabinet secretary, the new criteria is intended to help farmers produce food more sustainably and reduce emissions to help tackle climate change.

Speaking ahead of the event, Ms Gougeon said: “As we take urgent action to tackle the climate emergency, I am determined to ensure that high quality food production is maintained. Unlike in England, there will be no cliff edges in support – I am committed to maintaining direct payments and supporting our nation’s producers through a just transition.

“An updated version of the route map has been published today. It contains much more information on what will change from 2025.  It makes clear that our transition will be a just one – some things won’t change before a new framework for support is implemented beyond 2026.”

She added the new changes will only serve Scottish agriculture if as many farmers and crofters take part as possible, and said the government is taking steps to engage with farmers in various ways to make sure producers understand the changes that lie ahead and know where to access support.

Responding to the announcement, NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said: “We welcome the commitment laid out in the Agricultural Route Map to retain Voluntary Coupled Support till at least 2026 and the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary today. This gives the industry some highly anticipated clarity on the direction of travel.”

At the same time, he said further details are required on how the new conditions will work in practice.

“Coupled support is crucial to our iconic beef sector, which contributes an estimated £849 million to Scottish agriculture’s output and will be a central plank for the new strategy for Scotland’s Food and Drink (…).

“Conditionality measures for future support, such as calving intervals, have been discussed by the industry for some time as a way of improving production-based efficiency and the recommendations of the Farmer-led Group into suckler beef clearly identified the benefits of improving herd management, becoming more efficient and reducing emissions as meriting support.”

He concluded the NFU is looking forward to working with the Scottish Government in developing conditionality measures that will help improve the sustainability of beef production.