Euro-rate boost for Single Farm Payments

Scottish farmers will be almost £4 million better off this year after the exchange rate for determining the Single Farm Payment was set at midday yesterday.

The exchange rate for 2011, which is set by the European Central Bank, is some 0.8 per cent above last year’s level at €1 to £0.86665. This equates to £3.7 million additional value to the total Single Farm Payment in Scotland for those who take their SFP in sterling.

NFUS chief executive, Scott Walker remarked that swings in the value of sterling, such as those seen in the past year, had been a worry for many businesses so it was with some relief that SFP receipts on Scottish farms would be slightly up when compared with last year.

“With the ongoing financial turmoil in the eurozone and significant fluctuations in currency we have been keen to remind members of the adage that currency and exchange rates can go down as well as up.”

Rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead also reflected on the stability the decision provides for the farming industry allowing farmers to forward plan.

Walker urged the Scottish Government to keep up its recent record of getting the majority of the payments made by the end of December.

“With many farmers, particularly in the North-east and Highlands still to complete harvest and input costs for all producers on the rise, a continued commitment by the Scottish Government to prompt payment will provide much-needed reassurance for many farm businesses,” Walker said.

For those farmers who have elected to take the Single Farm Payment in euros, the see-sawing exchange rate in the past 12 months has ranged from 90.37p at best and 83.02p at worst.

Neil Wilson of the Clydesdale Bank pointed out that on an SFP payment of €30,000, this exchange rate would have yielded £27,111 at the peak day of the year and £24,906 at the low point.