Well nobody else seems to be replying, so although I don't have much useful to say, at least it'll make the thread look a bit more productive

IACS forms usually appear about late February/early March and have to be returned by sometime in May. Check with SGRPID in Inverness or wherever's closer to you regarding the status of your croft - if they can't tell you what the situation is we're unlikely to come up with anything more trustworthy.
I would imagine that new entrants will be encouraged under the new framework. According to my local SCF Rep writing in the local paper, "Anyone 40 and under who is going straight into active crofting will receive entitlements plus topup payments up to 25%.... Minimum claim sizes could be 5ha so small crofts would need to activate their common grazing shares... Stocking densities yet to be set will mean only active farmers/crofters can claim".
Noises from the SCF and its local rep make it sound as if they expect the new framework to be more favourable to crofters: me, I'm a sceptic with very recent memories of measures to reduce the area of land eligible for payments and will believe it when I see it!