The Scottish Government says the first tranche of Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) payments will arrive in farm bank accounts before Christmas.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said £55.8 million of LFASS money was being made a month earlier than in previous years as the government sought to provide cash flow certainty in challenging times for the industry.
“In addition, £405.5m of Basic Payment Scheme and greening payments have already been made to 17,001 farmers and crofters,” she said.
“Within the latest budget, those working the land in the most remote and fragile areas will continue to receive support through the LFASS, which has been allocated £65m.”
LFASS to give boost before end of year
Robert Macdonald, the chairman of NFU Scotland’s (NFUS) less favoured areas committee, who farms near Grantown-on-Spey, welcomed the news that thousands of farmers and crofters in some of the country’s most remote and marginalised areas will receive a cash flow boost before the end of the year.
“The timing could not be more important,” he said.
“All farmers face a dear winter and unprecedented cost challenges for feed, fertiliser, energy and fuel, and this support will ensure that those in our less favoured areas will continue to deliver for the rural economy, local jobs, landscapes, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.”
Mr Macdonald claimed the retention of the £65m represented a huge lobbying success for the union in 2021 as it saw the fund returned to its 2018 level and guaranteed the post-Brexit future of the crucial scheme from 2021 to 2024.
On the future of LFASS and the current consultation on an Agriculture Bill for Scotland, the union’s policy director, Jonnie Hall, insisted it was imperative that dedicated funding continues to be targeted at active farming and crofting across Scotland’s less favoured areas.
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