Latest figures show that 3,826 out of 4,242 forestry grant scheme (FGS) applications under the current SRDP were approved up to August 2017, a success rate of just over 90%.

A total of £157.68m has been committed to the planting. The Scottish government revised its forestry grant budget upwards from £252m to £260m in its December budget.

The Scottish Government aims to plant 100,000 new hectares of trees by 2022. Since 2012, around 40,000ha have been planted, meaning that planting rates will need to increase to around 15,000ha a year for the next four years in order to reach the target.

Lorraine Luescher of Glendinning Farms near Langholm said that the incentives for planting trees were skewing local land values: “Any land that comes up for sale will almost certainly be sold to someone for planting.

‘‘There is a threat to the multiple benefits currently provided by people who produce livestock in the hills. The landscape, tourism and the rural economy will all be lost without us.”

Forestry Commission Scotland delivers the FGS. A spokesman for the commission said: “We welcome contributions from farming and other stakeholders during the application process and seek advice on agricultural impacts from RPID. We consider all the comments made during wider consultation, prior to making decisions on planting proposals.”

John Fyall of the National Sheep Association said that the Scottish government’s method of rapid and vast afforestation is hurting communities and employment: “We’re at the highest level of afforestation we’ve ever had. I’m not against forestry: there are benefits in shelter belts, including native broadleaf woodland. But it can’t just be about forestry. We have to have trees in the right places. We can’t eat wood.”