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Coffee Lounge / Future Farming Investment Scheme - close but not quite there.
« Last post by Rosemary on July 14, 2025, 06:24:08 pm »Friday 11 July 2025[/size]Scottish Agroecology Partnership welcomes Future Farming InvestmentScheme - but criticises the scheme's major shortfalls and omissions_From Monday the 14th of July, farmers and crofters will have theopportunity to benefit from a £14 Million capital fund to invest initems to align their operations with one or more objectives of the newagricultural policy framework, in terms of environmental outcomes orfinancial viability. While the fund is to be welcomed in principle,questionable choices have been made by government officials in terms ofequity and sustainability of the funding. _The Future Farming Investment Scheme offers an opportunity for farmersand crofters to invest in a number of useful items not usually coveredby other capital grants. The competitive scheme gives priority toapplications from small producers under thirty hectares, tenants, islandbusinesses, new entrants, young farmers and crofters, organic producers,as well as EID and water efficiency measures. Many measures eligible forfunding under this scheme will be invaluable in helping farmerstransition their practices, including support for planting hedges andtrees, water harvesting equipment, diverse seed mixes and no-fencegrazing collars for livestock. This is all good news.However, the scheme suffers from a number of major flaws. Firstly, thesmallest producers with an area under three hectares are - again - notentitled to apply as a matter of principle, and common grazings sharesare excluded from the eligible area which disadvantages smallercrofters. Meanwhile, the biggest farming businesses qualify for thelargest amounts: While those with less than thirty hectares can onlyclaim items up to £5000, those over 150 hectares receive up to£20,000. Given that the support system is already skewed in favour ofthe largest producers on the best land, this raises serious questions ofequity.Another problem is that the items eligible do not necessarily supportmore ecologically sound, low-input practices and items helping producersto sell meat and produce locally from the farm and croft gate areexcluded. Meanwhile, the fact that second hand items are ineligible forfunding not only makes individual items that can be claimed moreexpensive, but also starkly contrasts the government's commitmentstowards environmental sustainability and the promotion of circulareconomies.Accordingly, member organisation representatives of the ScottishAgroecology Partnership see urgent need for improvement.Tara Wight, Policy and Campaigns Coordinator from the Landworkers'Alliance Scotland, said: "The agricultural subsidy system is alreadydeeply unequal, with the majority of public funding going to thewealthiest landowners, while small and medium scale producers who arefeeding their local communities struggle to make ends meet. While wewelcome the principle of capital grants to support sustainablepractices, the manner in which this grant is being rolled out risksfurther entrenching inequality in our farming system. Excludingproducers with under 3ha of land means that many fruit and vegetablefarms, who already receive nothing from the government, will beineligible for this support. Many of the items this fund is there tosupport, such as water saving equipment, will be essential for theresilience of Scotland's fruit and vegetable sector in a changingclimate. We urge the government to reconsider the eligibility criteriafor this fund and target support to those who need it most."Donna Smith, Chief Executive from the Scottish Crofting Federation said:"To be eligible for the scheme, you must be registered with theagricultural payment system and have claimed support before. Manycrofters are not registered in the system, since the paperwork that isrequired is disproportionate to the minimal support payments manycrofters get, in particular with the new Whole Farm Plan requirements.Yet these people should be able to benefit from this fund, too. It alsoappears unfair that those who struggled to comply with the Whole FarmPlan are automatically excluded, given that government had previouslysaid that people will not be penalised for noncompliance in the firstyear. RPID officers should act with a sense of proportion where it isclear that people struggled to comply without any fault on their part."David McKay, Co-Director of the Soil Association Scotland said: "Wewelcome this capital fund and the priority given to organic and smallerproducers, but we do have some concerns about the eligibilityrequirements. We would like to have seen a flat grant rate for all,rather than limiting smaller producers below 30ha to a £5,000 grant.Excluding second hand equipment also places an added constraint onsmaller farms and is not in line with Scottish Government circulareconomy objectives."The Scottish Agroecology Partnership is a recently founded coalition ofScottish organisations in the agricultural sector dedicated to ambitiousand just agricultural transformation that better supports low-input,nature friendly practices, local food production, and smaller producers.At this year's Royal Highland Show, they presented a set of joint policyasks ahead of the first Rural Support Plan under the new agriculturalsupport framework. More information can be found at www.agroecology.scot[1]ENDS[/color]
