The Scottish Government has allocated £180,000 to  Scotland’s Small Producers Pilot Fund.

The funding will be used to:

• support two small-scale abattoir projects
• establish a new information resource webpage for small producers
• develop a framework to assess small producers data 
• procure a service to deliver training courses for small producers

The Scottish Government set up The Small Producers Pilot Fund Steering Group – industry led and working in partnership with Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) as well as other agriculture, small holding and food industry stakeholders.

The Fund will help individual small producers increase their resilience, enhance their contribution to the rural economy and become more sustainable. It replaces the Small Farm Grant Scheme which closed in November 2022.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:

“The Small Producers Pilot Fund will help small producers grow their businesses and facilitate the growth of a more diverse and resilient food and drink industry. 

“This pilot marks the start of our wider efforts to help small producers move to more green and sustainable production methods.

“The Scottish Government remains committed to supporting small producers and empowering them to play a key role in making our Vision for Agriculture a reality.”

In 2020 The Scottish Government published the Mobile abattoirs – viability and sustainability: report. Consumers are becoming more concerned about where their meat is sourced from and campaigners have long pointed out the considerable journeys thousands of animals have to endure to get to an abattoir.

The minutes of The Small Producers Pilot Fund Steering Group (31st October 2023) states:

” There used to be around 11 abattoirs handling private kill in the Highlands and Islands area and now there are only 3. The price of private kill has also trebled in the last three years.”

In other Farming Sector news Orkney Constituency MSP, LibDem Liam McArthur wrote to Mairi Gougeon, highlighting the concerns of the farming community in Orkney, and across the country, about the  lack of clarity over when ring-fenced funding taken from the agricultural budget will be returned.

In her letter replying to McArthur’s points, Mairi Gougeon stated:

I am writing to offer reassurance that the Scottish Government is committed to the deferred sums of agricultural budget returning to the Rural Affairs portfolio.

As the Deputy First Minister set out in Parliament, the 2023-24 budget position remains extremely challenging – this is due to high inflation, increased pay expectations, economic uncertainty and the on-going cost of living crisis. It is right that uncommitted spend deferred from the rural support budget is used to ensure that we are able to continue to mitigate this context. This has meant that difficult decisions have had to be taken in this, and indeed every, portfolio across Government.

Ring-fenced funds will return to the portfolio in future years and indeed they must be, the nature of ring-fencing means that the funding cannot be spent in other areas. The timing of the return of the funding will form part of discussions with the Deputy First Minister on future budget allocations, ensuring we meet our obligations as custodians of public money and recognise the challenges facing the sector, as well as the transformation it is undergoing.

I recognise the key role of agriculture to our economy and in delivering the Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture through high quality food production; climate mitigation and adaptation; nature restoration; and wider rural development. The 2023-24 budget adjustments are subject to stringent budget monitoring processes and have arisen primarily as a result of reduced demand in various schemes, which in turn means there is a revised forecast.

As you may be aware, I undertook to maintain the payment schedule and performance of last year to help farmers and crofters with cashflow. We delivered on that – Basic and Greening payments started two weeks ahead of the 2022 start date, with money hitting bank accounts from 12 September 2023. To date, BPS and Greening 2023 payments worth over £397 million have been paid to 16,874 businesses. This means 97% of eligible businesses have been paid, and just over 95% of anticipated expenditure issued.

LFASS 2023 payments processing started on 27 November with first payments hitting accounts from 5 December 2023. We have issued payments to 9,981 claimants to a value of just over £56m, the overall budget for LFASS is £65.5m. Young Farmers payments will also start, as planned, and we also intend to start this year’s AECS, Rural Priorities and Forestry Grant Scheme payments early, to release more money into the rural economy.

I have also given a clear commitment that Scotland’s farmers and crofters will not experience a cliff edge in support. Direct payments for our producers will remain a core part of our future support for rural Scotland. The essential role of producing high quality food, of delivering positive outcomes for biodiversity and climate and of being at the heart of thriving rural communities is recognised.

These commitments stand in the context of the extremely challenging budget position that the Scottish Government presently faces- a real terms cut in the block grant of 1.2% and a cut to capital funding of 10%- and the lack of longer-term certainty caused by the failure of the UK Government to engage on future agriculture budgets. As it stands, we have no clarity from the UK Government on what future budget allocations will be beyond the coming financial year. I hope this response is helpful in reaffirming the Scottish Government’s commitment that funding will be returned to the portfolio for spending on agricultural priorities.

Commenting on this response, Liam McArthur said:

“Raiding funding ear-marked for farmers and crofters to plug gaps elsewhere in the government’s budget is bad enough, but the fact this has happened for the second year running is alarming. Despite assurances that the monies will be returned, the Cabinet Secretary has failed to offer any clarity about when this will happen. The Scottish Government also seems to have a pretty odd definition of what is meant by ‘ring fenced’ funding.

“At a time when farmers continue to face increased production costs and are still in the dark about future funding arrangements for the sector, this sleight of hand by Ministers is doing nothing to build trust or confidence. The only way of turning this around is for Mairi Gougeon to confirm this £61m is being returned to the budget next year, and offering the farming community in Orkney and across Scotland some much-needed certainty”.