NFU Scotland has welcomed confirmation from Scottish Government today (20 September) that the potential funding gap between existing EU schemes and new arrangements in 2015 will be bridged.

Rural development (Pillar Two) schemes are due to end on 31 December 2013 but new arrangements for delivery of the new Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) will not be in place until 2015.  Scottish Government has confirmed that Single Farm Payment (SFP) arrangements for 2014 will go ahead as normal and that it will seek to deliver as much as possible from our existing SRDP next year.

NFU Scotland’s Director of Policy, Jonnie Hall said:

"Confirmation of transition arrangements for direct support and rural development schemes in 2014 will be welcomed by Scottish farmers.  

“While arrangements for SFP were always going to roll over, this announcement also covers vital rural development measures in Scotland, particularly Less Favoured Areas support (LFASS) and existing agri-environment commitments.  That provides for a degree of continuity until we are ready to put the new area-based SFP in place and a new Rural Development Programme opens for business.

"The key funding priorities for Scottish agriculture in 2014 - SFP, LFASS and existing five-year agri-environment agreements - now appear to be covered.  That certainty is vital for a huge number of farms and crofts across Scotland.

"We believe it is right that the bridge between the current and future schemes should focus on the essentials, as SFP and LFASS funding not only provide a lifeline to many farmers and rural communities but deliver significant environmental good as well.  And given that farmers, through modulation, will continue to see part of their SFP siphoned off into the rural development pot through this period, their priorities should be given due consideration.

“Farmers also face the prospect of financial discipline across Europe reducing their direct support by around four percent. That simply underlines that every penny delivered to farm businesses in 2014 will count."  

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Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006