Around 200 rural people have rallied at the Scottish Parliament in a day of action for small farmers, crofters and land workers.

The rally heard impassioned speeches from attendees from across Scotland on the importance of small farmers and crofting to rural life and the ‘serious frustration at the lack of government support for small-scale agriculture’.

Many of the speakers took aim at the current Government consultation into future rural payment rules, saying that producers on a smaller scale needed to be at the heart of the upcoming Agricultural bill.

Organiser Tara White, Scotland policy and campaigns coordinator for the Landworkers’ Alliance, said: “New farm support schemes provide Scotland with an opportunity to transition towards a more sustainable food and land-use system which can produce good food, fuel and fibre while also protecting and enhancing biodiversity and helping to address the climate crisis.

“We had speakers who had come all the way from the Isle of Lewis down to Dumfries and Galloway. We heard from crofters, farmers and growers about the importance of small-scale agriculture to local food system resilience, nature and climate, and the cultural heritage of Scotland.

"There was an atmosphere of celebration in the crowd, but also one of serious frustration at the lack of government support for small-scale agriculture. There was a lot of engagement with politicians with members of the Rural Committee at parliament coming out to hear from farmers and crofters. We also had John Kerr, the head of agricultural policy, out to listen to what we had to say," she said.

On the small farmers wishlist, Ms White was emphatic: “We want to see the three-hectare minimum for claiming support payments scrapped. We also want to see a front loading of payments to benefit small farmers and crofters. From a Land Workers Perspective, we would do away with the area based system altogether and have payments focused on active farming. The payment system being proposed by the Government must be practical for the smaller scale without too much bureaucracy. We would also like to see crofting legislation to cover across all of Scotland.”

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On the day, representatives from the Landworkers’ Alliance, Nature Friendly Farming Network, Scottish Crofting Federation, Propagate and Soil Association Scotland all called on the government to recognise the value of small-scale farms and crofts. They also called for small-scale farming enterprises to get an income support scheme with more inclusion and consultation in the political decision-making processes. Another suggestion was targeted support for farms who provide fresh fruit and veg to their communities via hyperlocal supply chains.

At the rally, Bryde Marshall, of Falkland Kitchen Farm in Fife, said: “I am really proud to be on two hectares yet feeding a hundred households for eleven months of the year. For us, being small is incredibly important. Being small allows us to manage a really complex, diverse ecosystem, and growing a diversity of crops in turn allows us to provide a nutritious diet for our customers, and it also gives us a lot of resilience against different weather conditions, pests and diseases.”

Ruth Aston-Shaw, of Low Auldgirth Steading in Dumfries, said: “Small farms use fewer external inputs and produce higher nutritional yields per acre than their larger counterparts. I know this because I run one of these small-scale organic regenerative farms. I see firsthand the difference my small farm can make where every progressive change however small sends ripples through our landscape, through our communities and into the wider society.”