SCOTTISH FARMERS and crofters are set to receive a share of Scotland's £12.2 million Common Agricultural Policy refund within days, Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead has announced.
These funds were set aside from 2013's Pillar One support under a European CAP budget balancing move called 'financial discipline', under which the 14,600 of Scotland's farmers who claimed Single Farm Payments of more than €2000 had those payments reduced by 2.5%.
The European Commission is now releasing the unspent reserves from this mechanism, and the Scottish Government has begun repaying that money - which in real terms, will mean those 14,600 producers receiving an average of £845 each.
Mr Lochhead said: "This will be a modest albeit welcome windfall for thousands of Scottish farmers and crofters who had their payments reduced in 2013 as required by Europe.
"I am pleased to be able to confirm that the refunds should begin reaching bank accounts from next Thursday June 11.
"Of course, the level of financial discipline imposed by Europe in 2013 would have been millions of pounds higher had it not been for the Scottish Government successfully lobbying the EU to minimise the impact on Scottish agriculture," added the CabSec.
"It is also a timely reminder for farmers and crofters to submit their Single Application Forms for 2015 CAP support as soon as possible. We have now received 11,677 SAFs - more than 50% of the expected final tally - with less than two weeks to go until the June 15 deadline and I continue to encourage everyone to finalise and submit their applications as soon they can."
This year's SAF window in Scotland has been extended by one month to June, following an offer by European Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan of some flexibility to help member states cope with the vast bureaucratic changes wrought by CAP reform.
In Scotland, that came as a welcome bit of breathing space for the new ScotGov rural services computer, which got off to a stuttering start when it first went live, but has since recovered some ground after urgent upgrades.
To date, 61% of the farm support applications received have been submitted online, with 39% coming in on paper. Despite great official enthusiasm for the bulk of applications to be made online, these figures are currently running roughly parallel to last year's 62/38% ratio of online to paper.
Behind that figure, however, some 96% of farmers and crofters have at least registered to use the Rural Payments and Services website - although as that is now a pre-requisite to receiving CAP payments, it wasn't a matter of choice.
Customers needing any help with their SAF, or who encounter any issues, are advised to contact their local RPID area office for support, where blank paper forms continue to be available on request. Where necessary, pre-populated paper forms can also be made available.
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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