NFUS urges those eligible to apply for LFASS loan payments

With the majority of farmers claiming Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) cash set to receive an up-front loan on their payments this week, those who have yet to apply have been urged to do so now.

Responding to the news that more than 7,000 payments worth over £42.8 million had been processed, NFU Scotland said that the loan payment would be welcomed by farmers and crofters.

NFU Scotland LFA chair- man Robert Macdonald said: “Scottish Government’s release of LFASS loan payments has come at a time when many of those who are set to receive the payment are most in need of a financial boost, as they remain entrenched in a very long, very challenging and very costly winter and are still to see the signs of spring which is desperately needed.

“LFASS is always a very significant element of support for farmers and crofters in Scotland’s more disadvantaged areas and this year its importance has been underlined by the lack of fodder and additional feed costs being felt by so many.”

He said that without the timely payment of the LFASS loan, many farmers and crofters would have found themselves in an even more desperate situation in a few weeks’ time.

Encouraging anyone who had received an offer letter, but who had not yet opted in, to do so sooner rather than later, Macdonald said that if they acted swiftly they could access the next batch of loan offers due to be issued by mid-april.