Bill introduced for new farming support package
A bill to support farmers and crofters to produce food more sustainably, work with nature and reduce emissions has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament.
The Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill will reform how the Scottish Government will support farming and food production in Scotland, bringing in a new framework of support to replace the Common Agricultural Policy.
The bill aims to deliver the key ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture: helping farmers and crofters to produce more of what we eat more sustainably, while supporting their essential role in delivering climate mitigation and adaptation, and in biodiversity restoration. The bill will enable a payments framework that incentivises a drive towards low carbon approaches to improve the resilience, efficiency and profitability of the sector.
The support framework is intended to respond to future social, economic, and environmental changes, enabling tailored provisions to be produced and adapted as required. Ministers have published an agricultural reform route map to explain when current schemes will transition or end and when more guidance, support and information will be available, to be kept updated.
Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon commented: "I understand that the sector needs flexibility now and in the future to respond to the pressures and challenges that we will face. As we move forward our bill will allow for adaptive support for farmers, crofters and land managers in the near, medium and long term future. We will take the time necessary to develop the detail of our policy with the people directly affected by it.
"As we continue to co-develop the measures for our four tier support framework, we remain committed to supporting active farming and food production with direct payments now and have a phased approach for integrating new conditionality. Financial support is available right now to help farmers prepare for the changes that are coming – and today we are also launching a call to the sector to participate in interviews, surveys, online and in-person workshops, over the coming months that will help shape future support and how it is delivered."