Rural Payments and Services

The Agri-Environment Climate scheme is open to farmers, groups of farmers and other land managers with land in Scotland who are registered with us and have a Business Reference Number (BRN*). The Improving Public Access element of the Scheme will not be open for applications in 2023.

*Not all applicants will be eligible to apply for all options or activities under the scheme. For example, applications for the Organic Conversion and Organic Maintenance options are only open to farmers and crofters.

Find out how to register your account.

You must be able to demonstrate that you are able, and have the legal right, to carry out the management proposed in your application, for the length of the contract and any associated monitoring period. Please see also our Occupancy of Land page.

Funding under this scheme cannot be used to support works that you are required to complete as part of a statutory or legislative obligation.Your application must not include any works which you have already started on (including purchase of associated items or equipment). And, if your application is successful, you must not start on any of the works applied for until you have a signed contract in place and an authority to proceed letter has been issued.

Also, you must not apply for funding for work which has already, partly or fully, secured funding from another source. Please see also the Double Funding and incompatibility page.

You will normally be limited to a single AECS application [per business] per year. However, there are some exceptions which are set out below:

A. if you manage any of the following designated sites: SSSIs and European sites (SACs and SPAs): you can submit one application for the designated site management and another for management on other parts of your land

B. Land managers who have widely separated areas of land (normally at least five miles apart) where it is more appropriate to apply for each area separately.

C. Applications for Organic Conversion or Organic Maintenance may be made separately from other AECS applications.

D. Applications for Slurry Storage must be made separately from any other AECS application in the 2023 round.

The questions which case officers have to answer in 2023 when checking each applicant’s eligibility for the scheme, is provided below:

Before submitting an application, you must also carefully check that you meet the specific eligibility requirements for each individual management option and capital item which you wish to apply for. You can find this information using the links below:

Management Options

Capital items

Please also refer to the Double funding and option incompatibilitypage

Some of the Agri-Environment-Climate Scheme management options have been spatially targeted in order to make them available in the locations where they will deliver the greatest benefit. The other options are available throughout Scotland.

You can only apply for an option if it is listed under your holding and you should use your targeting tool to check this.

Some capital items are also spatially targeted. These are listed in the capital items page. The Targeting Tool will list the targeted capital items available on your holding. (Note that non-targeted capital items are not listed; these are available throughout Scotland.)

Version in place for 2021 round can be found in the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme full guidance archive – see ‘previous versions’ below.

Previous versions of this page

Click 'Download this page' to create a printable version of this guidance you can save or print out.