For those farming in Scotland’s LFA, LFASS and SUSSS payments are often more important financially to the unit than BPS and Greening. LFASS provides a vital injection of funding for hill farmers and crofters and without the annual £65 million of life-line support to the most vulnerable areas of Scotland, many hill farms and crofts would be unsustainable which could lead to much wider ramifications - including the potential for land abandonment.
Any cut to LFASS payments in either 2019 or 2020 would be wholly unacceptable to NFU Scotland. An immediate and significant priority of the Union is to explore options for protecting affected farmers and crofters in this period and maintaining levels of support. NFU Scotland is in continuous dialogue with Scottish Government, taking into account legislative, state aid and budgetary factors, to ensure any such cliff edge can be avoided.