Scottish government pledges £660m to support farmers

Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison has pledged some £660m to support Scotland’s farmers, crofters, and the wider rural community next year.

It represents a slight increase on the previous ring-fenced budget from Westminster.

Unveiling her tax and spending plans for 2025-26 to MSPs on Wednesday 4 December, Ms Robison said the Budget demonstrates the Scottish government’s understanding of the challenges people in rural areas are facing.

See also: Scots farmers gather to press Holyrood for proper funding

“[Rural affairs secretary] Mairi Gougeon has told me about the discussion that she has had with the farming community and their concerns about recent decisions made by the UK government,” she said.

“As asked for by farmers, we are returning in full the savings that were used in previous Scottish budgets through a new capital transformations scheme, with £20m in 2025-26 and the remainder [£26m] in 2026-27.”

Ms Robison also announced almost £90m to maintain woodlands and peatlands across Scotland.

She described her Budget for the upcoming year as one that “offers hope for Scotland’s future”.

Shortfall

The new budget falls short of what the farming sector was hoping for, however. NFU Scotland had sought a total budget of £776m.

In response to today’s announcement, NFUS president Martin Kennedy said: “Scottish farmers and crofters deserved a budget that recognised their indispensable role in Scotland’s rural and national prosperity.

“However, while falling short on our justified budgetary asks, we have received a budget that, if approved, provides guarantees that key support schemes will be delivered.

“Securing the return of the £46 million in deferred funding was a top priority for us and we look forward to working with the Scottish government on how best to deliver capital support to help future proof our industry.

“However, it’s disappointing that there has been no real terms increase in funding for farming and crofting and Scottish agriculture has not benefited from the 8% increase in the block grant received by the Scottish government.”

Addressing a rally of almost 1,000 farmers at Holyrood last week, Mr Kennedy had pointed to the thousands of jobs and businesses in the supply chain that rely on them, saying if the government got it wrong, it would “collapse the rural economy”.

Welsh Budget

Meanwhile, NFU Cymru has outlined its priorities ahead of the Welsh government’s impending budget announcement on 10 December.

The union’s key request is to maintain the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) budget for 2025, emphasising its importance for Welsh farming, the agri-food supply chain, and rural communities.

NFU Cymru president Aled Jones said: “For a little over 2% of our government’s budget, Welsh farming delivers so much for Wales.

“It underpins a £9.3bn food sector with a food and drink supply chain that employs 17% of Wales’s workforce, and more than 50,000 people are employed on farms.

“Therefore, it is so important that Welsh government, through its budget, backs Welsh farming at this time.”

NFU Cymru called for the restoration of the rural affairs budget to 2022 levels, highlighting its crucial role in supporting agriculture, public health, and promoting Welsh food.