Responding to the publication of the Scottish Government’s Rural Support Plan, environmental groups have warned that the plan represents a “lost decade” to support farmers and crofters to meet Scotland’s climate and nature targets.
After Brexit, Scotland and other UK nations were required to develop new farm funding systems to replace the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. While England and Wales have moved at faster rates, Scotland has maintained the old system of direct payments with money disproportionately given to the largest landowners with few environmental conditions attached.
The new plan, published today, confirms that the Scottish Government intends to retain the status quo until 2030, when a modest proportion of the budget will be moved from the “Tier 1” direct payments into other funding envelopes. The plan does not specify how this money will be spent, though it could support increased investment in environmental measures.
The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 requires the Scottish Government to produce a plan every five years setting out how it will use farm support payments to deliver a range of outcomes which may include reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and improving the biodiversity of agricultural land. The first plan runs from 2026-2031.
Pete Ritchie, Convener of Scottish Environment LINK’s Food and Farming Group, said:
“Farming is on the frontline of climate impacts, with extreme weather and rising temperatures making it harder to produce food. We urgently need to help the industry to reduce emissions, restore nature, and become more resilient to a changing climate.
“The Rural Support Plan should set out a clear path for how the Scottish Government will help our farmers and crofters become both ecologically and economically sustainable, starting now.
“Instead, the plan will see Scotland maintaining an ineffective and unfair system of payments for a decade after the chance for reform, and only modest changes even then.
“We welcome the fact that the Scottish Government has finally sent a clear signal that the balance of funding will shift to support sustainable farming. But this plan kicks that change towards the end of the next parliament and still does not go far enough to outlining the concrete changes industry will be asked to make.
“For years, we – and many others – have been pressing Ministers to make faster progress and introduce more substantive changes to help farmers and crofters produce food more sustainably. The plan represents a lost decade of potential to reform farming policy to ensure it delivers for nature and climate. It is not fit for purpose and must be revisited immediately after the election.”