Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has announced that farmers will continue to receive most of their existing subsidies for growing food. Speaking at the NFU Scotland’s spring conference in Glasgow, Yousaf said that 70% of future support will be direct payments. Environmental groups have argued that the majority of subsidies should be for tackling climate change and nature loss. However, the farming union warned that such a move would lead some businesses to financial ruin and to agricultural land being abandoned. Agricultural practices are responsible for 19% of Scotland’s planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
Until 2027, 80% of the subsidies will be for direct support, with the remaining 30% reserved for targeted measures like creating wetlands or restoring peatlands. This split in funding is similar to the existing arrangement, which is likely to come as a huge relief to most farmers. Yousaf said the decision delivered on the promise not to create “cliff edges” but rather to transition to a new framework. He added that farmers would be “expected to deliver more for nature and climate for that funding”.
Scottish environment link, which represents more than 40 organisations, had been calling for a more radical approach. It said the Scottish government’s plans effectively maintained the status quo, with a relatively small sum of money available to help farmers undertake targeted action for the benefit of nature and the environment.
Brexit means the UK is now responsible for its own farm subsidies, and there are some who believe farmers should have to work much harder for the environment to receive the money. In England, direct support for farmers will end by 2027. As environment secretary back in 2018, Michael Gove set out the UK government’s new direction of travel, declaring that farmers should receive public money “for public goods” with a focus on environmental improvements.
The sector in Scotland has successfully argued that direct support payments are needed because much of the farmed area is made up of “less favoured” land, mainly grassland suitable for less profitable sheep farming. Scottish farmland is not the rich arable land found in Aberdeenshire or the Borders but rather land that is only suitable for livestock. The Scottish farming industry has pledged to embrace sustainable and regenerative agriculture, focusing on keeping the soil fertile, to receive their basic subsidies
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