Scottish Budget cuts make a mockery of Scotland's farming targets, campaigners say

The agricultural budget is to be cut by £33 million in cash terms – from £739m in 2023/24 to £706m in 2024/25

The cuts to Scotland’s agricultural budget have made a mockery of the Scottish Government’s much vaunted goal for the country to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

This week, a £6.2 million (17 per cent) cut to Scotland’s Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) was set out in the Budget.

For this 2023/24 financial year, only about 5 per cent of the £650m farm budget is being spent on dedicated support for farmers to deliver targeted environmental benefits like restoring habitats for priority species, improving water quality and mitigating climate change.

Campaigners have hit back at the Scottish Government's funding cuts to the agricultural budget (pic: David Cheskin)

The proposed cut from AECS will now make it even harder for farmers to get support to take action for nature and the climate, campaigners have warned.

Pete Ritchie, director of Nourish Scotland and convener of the Scottish Environment LINK Food and Farming Group, said the reduction to part of the farm budget that helps address nature loss and climate change “makes no sense to us”.

NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy echoed concerns about the cut in finances, saying farmers and crofters have been “let down by Scotland’s proposed budget for 2024/25”. The agricultural budget is to be cut by £33m in cash terms – from £739m in 2023/24 to £706m in 2024/25.

It comes after the Scottish Government failed to return a total of £61m of withdrawn agriculture funds in the Budget, as demanded by the union.

"There have been categorical assurances from Scottish Government, repeated again in the Scottish Parliament chamber yesterday by the deputy first minister, that the money will be returned to agricultural budgets in the future,” Mr Kennedy said. "Without any clear timetable emerging in the Budget for their return, those are simply hollow promises of ‘jam tomorrow’."

He welcomed the fact support for the Basic Payment Scheme had been preserved, but criticised the cuts in funding for other schemes, including the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme and Agricultural Reform Programme.

“These budget cuts undermine the nation’s shared ambitions and the agricultural industry’s ability to play a full part in meeting its obligations around the production of food and drink, underpinning rural economies and communities whilst reducing emissions and enhancing biodiversity,” Mr Kennedy said. The Budget, he said, was a “golden opportunity” the Scottish Government had “regrettably failed to take”.

Other cuts to the rural sector include a £33.6m reduction for Scottish Forestry, almost £10m axed from energy efficiency and decarbonisation, and £1.1m from Scottish Water, making it harder to tackle the 14,000 sewage overflows last year.