A coalition of environmental charities are calling for the Scottish government to allocate the money in its new farm funding system in a way which encourages farmers and crofters to adopt climate and nature-friendly practices. This comes in response to a consultation from the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), a Scottish government group supporting the reform of agricultural policy.
The charities, part of the coalition Scottish Environment LINK, have argued consistently for 75% of the farming budget to be allocated to Tiers 2, 3 and 4 of its new funding system. They argue that this will be more effective in driving forward the profitability and sustainability of the sector than the current budget, which does not encourage enough environmentally friendly agriculture practices.
Given that the Scottish government has decided to allocate 70% of the budget to direct support in Tiers 1 and 2, it’s essential that at least 50% of that budget now goes to Tier 2 to support climate and nature friendly practices, as set out in the SNP’s 2021 election manifesto.
Scottish Environment LINK supports NFU Scotland’s call for a larger farm budget to support Scotland’s farmers and crofters to do more for nature and climate while still producing as much food for people.
Chair of Scottish Environment LINK’s Food and Farming group, Pete Ritchie, said:
“Farmers and crofters want to do more for nature and climate. Making at least 50% of the direct support payment conditional on good environmental practices would reward those farmers and crofters who are already doing the right thing. And it would provide a strong incentive for those farmers who haven’t yet made the transition to more environmentally friendly practices to step up to the plate and deliver more for climate and nature with the public money they receive.”
Co-director of Soil Association Scotland, David McKay said:
“The government’s own analysis shows the current funding system is not an effective use of public money, so it needs to change. That means targeting payments towards measures that we know can help to deliver on the headline policy objectives to mitigate and adapt to a changing climate, restore nature, improve animal health and welfare and produce high quality food.”
Vicki Swales, Head of Land Use Policy at RSPB Scotland said:
“Farmers and crofters are in the front-line of climate change and nature loss and many are already experiencing the impacts of these on food production and their livelihoods. Without using a larger share of farm funding to support a shift to nature and climate friendly farming methods, many more farm businesses will become increasingly vulnerable to present and future shocks.”
