Act now if you want loan support, says government
Farmers wanting to take advantage of the Scottish Government’s up-front loan scheme on their support payments should respond swiftly to the application letter due to arrive in the post this week.
The opt-in scheme will be offered to around 14,000 farmers and the first tranche of payments is likely to start in mid October.
The loan – equivalent to 90 of an applicant’s anticipated CAP payment - will inject more than £259 million into the rural economy, said rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing when he confirmed the scheme yesterday.
“Only last week, I heard from then fus and crofters in Grantown-on-spey how this money will help support their colleagues feeling the effects of increased feed and fodder prices as a result of the recent adverse weather,” said the minister.
Ewing said that his department would continue
to make offers to eligible businesses not included in the first mail-shot and encouraged anyone who wished to apply for a loan to do so as quickly as possible.
And NFU Scotland also urged farmers to respond to the loan offer before the deadline of 28 September to ensure that they were included in the early payment runs.
The union’s director for CAP Schemes and post-brexit policy, Jenny Brunton, said: “While the response rate to previous loan letters has always been good, this is a reminder
to all those who receive an offer to opt in and get their replies in ahead of the deadline if they wish to be considered for the first run of loan payments.”
She said that although the industry had just gone through a difficult and challenging 12 months, a long costly winter still lay ahead: “This loan scheme gives farmers and crofters the opportunity to opt-in for a loan that will go some significant way to easing the cashflow worries that are building on farms and crofts.”