Farm payments to Scotland’s farmers and crofters will now start to issue from 19 September 2022 instead of 16 October 2022.

The Scottish Government has moved the payment dates forward for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening  in response to requests from farming groups who are under immediate inflationary pressures.

Rural Affairs Secretary in the Scottish Government Mairi Gougeon said:

“Given the sharp rise in energy, fuel and fertiliser costs in recent months, I am acutely aware that businesses across Scotland are facing a hugely challenging increase in their bills.

“This is compounding the challenging operating environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the hard Brexit imposed on Scotland by the UK Government, which has inflicted significant and lasting damage on our world class food and drink industries, rural and coastal communities.

“That is why I have listened to the representations from the farming and crofting community and will bring forward the advance payment start date to as early in the year as is practicably possible. The intention is to support businesses, as far as possible, with immediate cash flow challenges.

“While the start date of payments may change, the target remains the same – to pay over 70% anticipated expenditure by end December 2022 and 95.24% anticipated expenditure by end February 2023.”