SCOTLAND'S Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon has confirmed that this year's farm support payments are to be brought forward to September, in an effort to help Scotland’s farmers with cash flow amidst the current crisis of spiralling input costs.

Ms Gougeon today announced that, subject to the approval of the Scottish Parliament, farmers and crofters will receive their advance payment for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening around a month earlier than originally planned.

Her move comes one month after 11 key Scottish farming organisations, led by NFU Scotland, wrote to ScotGov to express concerns over the impact that the unprecedented cost inflation is having, calling on it to bring forward these crucial support payments.

Having conducted a review of the legislative, IT and budget requirements needed to bring the date forward, ScotGov will now start those payments from September 19, 2022, instead of the planned payment date of October 16, 2022.

Read more: More than ever before, earlier farm payments are needed this year

Ms Gougeon said: “Given the sharp rise in energy, fuel and fertiliser costs in recent months, I am acutely aware that businesses across Scotland are facing a hugely challenging increase in their bills.

“This is compounding the challenging operating environment caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the hard Brexit imposed on Scotland by the UK Government, which has inflicted significant and lasting damage on our world class food and drink industries, rural and coastal communities.

“That is why I have listened to the representations from the farming and crofting community and will bring forward the advance payment start date to as early in the year as is practicably possible. The intention is to support businesses, as far as possible, with immediate cash flow challenges.

“While the start date of payments may change, the target remains the same – to pay over 70% anticipated expenditure by end December 2022 and 95.24% anticipated expenditure by end February 2023.”

NFU Scotland welcomed the acceleration of the payment timetable, saying that it would deliver vital cash flow certainty to farmers and crofters – and allow the thousands of them attending the Royal Highland Show next week to budget and plan for any deals they may do at the event.

Union president Martin Kennedy said: “The farming and crofting industry is currently facing unprecedented input price pressure around the likes of fuel, fertiliser, feed grain and wages.  

“That input cost inflation has been long-lasting and is already having a significant impact on business decisions at a farm and croft level.  This has implications not only for primary producers but also many upstream and downstream businesses that rely on agriculture for their customers and their suppliers. 

“While there is no quick fix to the current crisis, the Scottish Government decision to agree to our request and bring forward Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening payments will help to build confidence across the industry, as we enter one of the busiest weeks in the Scottish farming calendar. This announcement about the accelerated delivery of payments to bolster cash flow is an important boost ahead of the Highland Show.”  

Annually, the Scottish Government pays out around £420 million through the Basic Payment Scheme and Greening payments. This year, the Scottish Government’s farm payment strategy will see a transition away from providing manual loan payments to automated scheme advance payments.

More information is available on the Scottish Government’s Rural Payments and Services website.