Rural Payments and Services

Payments worth £2.4 million to Scottish dairy farmers will arrive in farmers’ bank accounts in the coming days, Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing has confirmed.

As announced last month all applicants will also now receive an increased payment rate to ensure all available EU funding is distributed.

The funding, which is being issued well in advance of the 30 September deadline set by the Commission, is targeted towards the hardest hit dairy farmers, and encourages the widespread uptake of milk recording and production profiling techniques, which provide dairy farmers with the information required to help make informed business decisions.

Mr Ewing said:

“The recent downward pressure on gate prices badly affected our dairy sector, which is why I took the decision to reopen the EU Adjustment Aid Scheme window to ensure that as many farmers as possible were able to fully benefit from all available EU support."

“As promised last month, if any funding remained unclaimed by the end of the application period, I would increase all the current payment rates to ensure our dairy farmers received the maximum level of support."

"I can now confirm that I have done just that, and increased payments under this scheme will land in farmer’s bank accounts in the coming days.”