The Scottish Government will place post-Brexit farm support options on the table by the end of this year, Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy Fergus Ewing has confirmed.

“Over the course of this year I would expect that there is a need for us to come forward with some potential options as to how post Brexit, if Brexit takes place, on what funding may look like. It would make sense to start with the assumption that the UK Ministers deliver their Brexit policies,” Ewing said in a press conference after questions from the NFUS AGM audience put pressure on him to give answers as to the shape of future farm support.

“There is a growing desire among the farming community to see programmes and policies being developed as soon as a clear picture emerges as to the Brexit solution of financial modelling.

“It would be possible to carry out modelling with a range of assumptions. Firstly we need to gain a clear understanding of what the industry and sector wants, we are doing that through the champions, the NCRA and the NFU. You have to listen to what the sector wants. It’s a slow process, you can’t rush it.”

Aside from post-Brexit clarity around farm payments, Ewing’s speech at the AGM on Friday morning went down quite well; particularly when he said that lynx would only enter Scotland “over my dead body”.

He confirmed that hill farmers and crofters will be offered a Less Favoured Area Support Scheme loan for the 2017 scheme year, worth £55m in total to the rural economy. Eligible hill farmers and crofters will be offered a loan of up to 90% of their LFASS entitlement, with payments beginning in April.

“I am delivering on the commitment I made last year to establish a loan scheme if I judged that this would be the best way to provide financial certainty to LFASS claimants,” Ewing said. “While we are making good progress in our handling of LFASS2017 scheme payments, and are on track to commence payments earlier than we have done in previous years, I want to offer as much certainty as I can right now.”

Offer letters will be sent out in batches, starting at the end of February and will continue to be issued as claim eligibility is confirmed.

It is expected that the number of businesses eligible will remain at around the same level as the 2016 loan scheme when offers were made to approximately 11,275 businesses.