At the NFUS fringe meeting of the SNP conference this week, the Scottish Farmer asked the Cabinet Secretary to give an indication of the likely budget split between support tiers and if the Scottish Government is committing to a multi-annual support framework.

Responding, Ms Gougeon said: “I wish we could commit to that but the fact is I really appreciate all the work NFU Scotland are doing in relation to discussions and the pressure they are putting on the UK Government because we don’t have any clarity of budget.

“When we were part of the EU we had a seven-year programme so we could plan according to that, but we work on an annual basis now which does make it really difficult to plan ahead – It’s a nightmare for running schemes because we put out calls for schemes at a certain time of the year and we need the money to be spent by the end of the financial year which is a huge challenge.

“When we were members of the EU we also had a mix of resource and capital funding and we don’t get any replacement in capital funding anymore which means that budget has gradually diminished year after year.

“Coming back to the agriculture bill and what we set out there, we want to give as much clarity and certainty as we can within that. The bill will give us the ultimate powers and the bill sets out what that framework will look like but we have that commitment within the bill and we have the rural support plan in there which I hope will give that clarity and that certainty as to what our priorities will be for that support over a five year period.

Turning to the tiered funding, Ms Gougeon said this remained a subject of discussion, “but we can learn lessons from what is working elsewhere.”

Ms Gougeon also urged farmers and crofters to carry out soil audits and other preparations ahead of 2025.

She said: “What we have also announced earlier this year is the conditions that are going to apply to support from 2025. So we say as part of that we will be looking for the foundations for the whole farm plan to be delivered, so that means carbon audits, soil tests, animal health and welfare plans, biodiversity audits, it means protecting peatlands and wetlands, and having that as a condition of support.

“We are looking to incentivise people to start getting their baselines now with the carbon audits soil test and providing funding for animal health and welfare plans – and don’t want people to wait until 2025 when new conditions come in or until a new framework is in place.

“It is important that people understand where the performance is at the moment and that we help people along that journey as much as we possibly can.”