The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Sheep support scheme payments on way
Payments worth £4.6 million to Scottish sheep producers are scheduled to arrive in farmers’ bank accounts this week.
The upland sheep support scheme is targeted at just over 700 sheep producers who farm on the poorest quality land.
To qualify, producers must have home-bred ewe hoggs, no more than 200 hectares of payment region 1 land, and 80% of their holding must consist of land in payment region three.
Exchange rate fluctuations mean the 2016 payment rates have risen to £65.69 per animal from last year’s £57.13 per head.
Making the announcement, Rural Secretary Fergus Ewing said the government believed it was vital to support a sheep sector which contributed more than £200m a year to the rural economy.
NFU Scotland vice-president Martin Kennedy, who farms near Aberfeldy, welcomed the start of the pay-out.
“Numbers of ewe hoggs claimed through the scheme is up slightly on the year, a reflection of improved lambing conditions in 2016 compared to 2015 but exchange rates have also helped boost the value of the headage payment by around £8 per head,” he said.
“For hill farmers and crofters who are eligible to receive the payment on their ewe hoggs, there will be a sigh of relief that payments, although originally promised in May, are now going out the door and that is ahead of 2016.
“This scheme is a vital and valuable element of the support they need to viably run their hill farm or croft.”
Mr Kennedy added the union was focused on making effective changes so the pot of money hit the intended target.
He said: “For the future, NFU Scotland still believes improvements including a wider application period, a new retention period, and linking the total number of ewe hoggs a producer can claim to a percentage of their breeding flock would be of genuine benefit to the scheme.”