Agriculture Bill proposals put out to consultation

Proposals to support and develop agriculture in Scotland through the Scottish Government's forthcoming Agriculture Bill have been put out to consultation.

Key themes covered include:

• support payments for farmers, including to encourage climate change mitigation, nature protection and restoration, and high quality food production;
• modernising agricultural tenancies to enable diversification, update the waygo provisions and the rules of good husbandry and good estate management, revise the rent review provisions and review the resumption provisions on compensation for disturbance; and
• the impact on the rural economy more generally.

Ensuring that fair work conditions, including the real living wage, are applied to all Scottish agricultural workers is also part of the consultation, as are subsidy payments to establish minimum standards for animal health and welfare.

A series of online and in-person events will be held to gather the views of stakeholders and members of the public.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon commented: “We are supporting our farmers, crofters and land managers to produce more high quality and sustainable food, as well as ensuring our food system is more resilient.

“The fact is that high quality food production is very much a part of meeting our net zero targets and dealing with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.

“We have ambitious targets and right across the agriculture sector we have the talent and skills to meet our aims.

“I would urge people from all walks of life to get involved and make their views known – these issues affect us all.”

Access the consultation here. The deadline for responses is 21 November 2022.