By Gordon Davidson
THE Scottish Government has slapped £50 on the table as an incentive for every farmer in the country to fill out a simple survey revealing their current “awareness and experience” of sustainable and regenerative agriculture.
The ‘Testing Actions for Sustainable Farming’ survey is the next part of Scotland’s national test programme, which was launched in April of this year with the ‘Preparing for Sustainable Farming’ offer of financial support to farmers and crofters undertaking carbon audit and soil analysis.
These measures, and many more to come, are intended to ease the Scottish industry towards the post-Brexit future of agricultural support, in the form of a new system which will be at least 50% dependent on the delivery of environmental benefits, alongside food, and is scheduled to be introduced in 2025/26.
By comparison, south of the Border, Defra abruptly scrapped the Basic Payment Scheme left over from Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy, with its last remnants to be paid out next year. Westminster’s aspiration is to have 70% of its farmers signed up to its new sustainable farming incentive, a development of its old countryside stewardship scheme – and almost entirely unrelated to food production – by 2024.
So while the Scottish industry has grumbled about the slow pace the Scottish Government has set for new policy development, it has been conceded that it is better to go cautiously down the right path, than run full tilt down the wrong one.
The purpose of this new survey, then, is to gather information which will help design, test, improve and standardise the tools, support and processes that will be necessary to reward farmers, crofters and land managers for the climate and biodiversity outcomes they deliver.
It is a simple survey of multiple-choice questions assessing each respondent’s awareness and experience of sustainable and regenerative agriculture. To ensure the survey results represent the “breadth and diversity” of farms and crofts across Scotland, a representative base of participants had already been invited to participate, but now the survey is open to all Scotland’s farmers and crofters.
“We want to hear from businesses in every part of the country, of all sizes and all stages of the sustainable farming journey,” said the Scottish Government.
For in-depth news and views on Scottish agriculture, see this Friday’s issue of The Scottish Farmer or visit www.thescottishfarmer.co.uk
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