Less Favoured Areas Support Scheme (LFASS) funding has been confirmed for applications made in 2019. The payments are worth up to £10,000 each for 11,300 eligible farmers in Scotland.

“The UK Government is guaranteeing an additional £42m to extend the Less Favoured Areas scheme for an extra year,” said Lord Duncan during a visit to Deskie Farm in Ballindalloch, Moray, last Thursday.

“This will give farmers greater certainty while we develop a strategy to support our agriculture sector once we leave the EU.”

Altogether, 85% of Scottish agricultural land is classed as LFA, compared to just 17% in England.

However, NFU Scotland said it wants the government to commit to rural development payments beyond 2019 to 2022.

“We want them to go further,” NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick said. “Hill farming is a long-term commitment, and breeding and management decisions being made this autumn will have an impact many years into the future.

The UK Government has already committed to funding levels for direct support payments until 2022, the end of the current parliament. It is imperative that the UK Government now makes a similar commitment on rural development funding for the same time frame.”

Lord Duncan is expected to host a roundtable later this year with Scotland’s farming sector, to hear about their priorities as the UK leaves the EU.