Support payments to Scottish farmers unchanged for next year

Farm leaders have applauded an announcement by the Scottish government confirming that support payments to the sector are to be maintained at current levels next year, adding some much-needed certainty for farmers and crofters.

According to a government statement, the aim is “to tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, while supporting food production”.

See also: Welsh BPS payments to remain unchanged for next two years

As such, the 2023/24 budget for rural affairs and the islands is being maintained at close to £965m, while total agricultural support spending is set at £772m.

While this latter figure is a slight decrease on 2022/23 levels, most of the key elements, such as the Basic Payment Scheme, greening payments and the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (Lfass), are unchanged (see tables below).

Deputy first minister John Swinney also pointed to a £26m programme of peatland restoration, £77m in woodland planting, and £44m to “help Scotland become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture”.

Response

NFU Scotland director of policy Jonnie Hall said there was “a collective sigh of relief” that the most important budgets for direct support are being held at existing rates.

“The pot that delivers basic payments, greening and voluntary coupled support for beef calves and hill ewe hoggs remains at £485m and is critical to stability in hugely turbulent times of soaring farm input costs,” he said. 

Mr Hall also welcomed the decision to keep the Lfass budget at £65m and increase the Agricultural Reform Programme budget from £23m to £39m, “to help the sector prepare for its post-CAP future from 2025”.

The budget also brought some disappointments, however, with Mr Hall pointing to the withholding of “hard-won” convergence funding.

“Promises to return it in due course will cause nothing but anger and frustration,” he said. 

He also described the decision to hold the agri-environment climate scheme at £35.8m as “disappointing” given the significant costs farmers and crofters are facing to comply with new slurry storage and spreading rules.

Critical response

Political opponents to the ruling SNP/Green Party alliance were critical of the new budget.

Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs secretary Rachael Hamilton said rural communities had been “short-changed”, as the budget amounted to a £50m real-term cut after inflation.

“Our rural communities are grappling with the cost-of-living costs, as prices soar, but ministers have not seen fit to give them the resources they need,” she said.

Scottish Labour rural affairs spokesperson Colin Smyth added that farmers and crofters were already facing uncertainty as a result of the “botched” delivery of a new agricultural support system. “Now vital rural funds are being raided to pay for the SNP’s and Greens mismanagement,” he said.

Welsh response

The Scottish budget comes hot on the heels of a similar statement from the Welsh government, confirming that farm payments will continue unchanged for the next two years.

 English farmers are seeing their BPS payments cut for a second year in a row, with everyone facing a 20% cut on the first £30,000 of BPS, rising progressively to 40% off payments of more than £150,000.

The money syphoned off is supposed to go into new government supports, though many elements of the new Environmental Land Management scheme are not yet in place.