Rural Payments and Services

Supporting farmers and crofters to produce food more sustainability, work with nature and reduce emissions is at the heart of new draft legislation.

The Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill will reform how the government will support farming and food production in Scotland. It will legislate to introduce a new framework of support to replace the current Common Agricultural Policy.

The Bill aims to deliver the key ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s Vision for Agriculture: helping our farmers and crofters to produce more of what we eat more sustainability, to support their essential role in delivering climate mitigation and adaptation, and in biodiversity restoration. In seeking the powers to realise that Vision, the Bill will enable a payments framework that incentives a drive towards low carbon approaches to improve the resilience, efficiency and profitability of the sector.

This draft legislation has been designed to provide an adaptive support framework for farmers and crofters that can respond to future social, economic, and environmental changes. It enables tailored provisions to be produced and adapted as required.

Background

Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill - full press release (gov.scot)

Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Bill