A ‘HOLE’ has been left in the ‘farming sink’ after many aspects of agri-tourism businesses have been ruled out of receiving government financial support amid the current crisis.

A lot of farms across Scotland have diversified their income streams into tourism, which has become a staple support for overall farming incomes and benefits the farming sector by engaging farmers with consumers. However, any business which doesn’t have its main income coming from one specific type of tourism, or where the income from the farm is more than tourism, may lose out on vital grant support.

Thousands of pounds worth of farm tours had already been sold for this spring and summer, and once refunded, that lost income is not covered by a support grant. There are also issues around self-catering which is a significant income earner for farmers – firstly it was completely missed out of the support list, then it was included with the caveat that it had to be the main income earner.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Self-catering accommodation and caravans are considered eligible for grant funding if receipts represent a primary source (for example, one third or more) of earnings for the ratepayer and the property has been let out for 140 days or more in financial year 2019-20.”

But, as most farmers in tourism have a multi-activity portfolio of income ranging from the farm itself to direct food sales, small scale food processing, farm tours, accommodation, adventure tourism, events, cafes, no one type of activity dominates, but all contribute significantly to the overall ‘family income pie’

As well as established businesses, many farmers have only started new businesses in the past year and having invested thousands of pounds in new ventures, have no money coming in.

Caroline Millar runs Go Rural, which supports the development of agri-tourism, and was at the epicentre of phone calls from distressed businesses owners last week: “I took over 100 calls from concerned individuals in agri-tourism, many were in tears as they couldn’t see how their business would survive the current situation and in some cases their farms were reliant on their tourism income to keep them afloat.

“Farming as an industry doesn’t always acknowledge the role tourism plays on farms. There are lots of entrepreneurial farming families with multiple generations involved in generating additional income streams such as running farm tours, B and B’s or selling meat direct to consumers – all of these added ventures prop up the farming business.”

Caroline and her husband Ross also run their own self-catered business alongside the family farm outside Dundee, where they offer luxury ‘Hideaway’ lodges, which bring in a vital part of their overall income.

“I spent all of last week speaking to guests booked until the end of May and appealed to them to move dates forward from April/May to autumn and winter. Come June we will have taken a hit of £100k to our bottom line. Every refund transaction I do I am losing money out of the bank,” she reported.

“We are in a luckier situation than some, as we have a buffer from savings we were going to use to build a new Hideaway, but there are still huge overheads to take in to consideration with staff , utilities, and we can’t stop paying insurance despite them not supporting us for business interruption.”

Caroline has also set up a virtual support group to connect people working in agri-tourism during this time – a platform to share knowledge on what businesses can do to prepare for when the crisis passes: “We had one call on Monday with 55 taking part,” Caroline continued. “Our message to agri-tourism businesses, is to ‘get your house in order’ with social media and a strong website – to be ready to offer a stellar service to people who will be locked up just now and seeking out their next holiday for once this disaster passes.

“Our sector brings cash into the rural economy throughout the whole of Scotland from Shetland to the Borders and everywhere else in between. We are going to need government support, particular in marketing our sector, to keep this vibrant rural economy afloat and ensure we have a service to offer the future visitors who will flock to Scotland to take in our rural life.”

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