RURAL economy secretary Fergus Ewing was in the sheep sector's good books this week, following his decision to extend the deadline for applying to the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme until November 30.

The move, made in recognition of the difficult time sheep farmers were having following the recent atrocious weather, was hailed by both NFU Scotland and NSA Scotland.

Union vice-president Martin Kennedy, who chairs the union’s less favoured areas committee, said: “I welcome the cabinet secretary’s announcement to extend the application deadline for this vital scheme for Scotland’s hill farmers and crofters.

“Faced with the fifth wettest summer on record, hill farmers remain significantly behind in their workload, which would have made submitting an accurate application to the SUSSS ahead of the October 18 deadline extremely challenging for some.

“In a letter to the cabinet secretary in early September, NFUS requested that Scottish Government seek European approval for a one-off extension to the application period for SUSSS in recognition of the extremely poor weather," noted Mr Kennedy.

“While it may appear a small change, those who are reliant on the scheme as a lifeline support will very much welcome the cabinet secretary’s intervention.”

NSA’s Scottish chairman John Fyall told The Scottish Farmer: “We warmly welcome the extension to the deadline. The Scottish Government has listened to shepherds who are having a most trying autumn.

“We hope that going forward the scheme rules can still be amended, bearing in mind this is just a weather derogation, but it will certainly be a help that we are grateful for.”

Mr Ewing commented: “Having listened to farmers, and being conscious of the poor weather conditions that have hampered farmers ability to gather flocks off the hills and draw their future breeding stock, I have decided to extend the application window for applying to the support scheme until November 30.

“Despite this extension, I would urge all farmers who wish to do so to submit their applications online as soon as possible and not wait until the last moment.

“Our sheep sector contributes more than £200 million a year to the rural economy, so it is only right that we offer them as much support and flexibility as possible within the confines of EU legislation.”