Active farming and sustainable food production funding: EIR release

Information requested

You asked for what new conditionality relating to reducing emissions will be included in future direct support payments for active farming and sustainable food production.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA

The question as asked does not request any information which is not in the public domain and I shall provide the following to direct you towards that information.

Our Vision for Agriculture (https://www.gov.scot/publications/next-step-delivering-vision-scotland-leader sustainable-regenerative-farming/) sets an ambition to make Scotland a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. To do that, we must transform the support we give to our farmers and crofters. We will continue to offer the essential support that direct payments provide but we are also asking farmers and crofters to do more for climate and nature in return.

Scottish Government is committed to the tackling the twin crises of biodiversity improvement and climate mitigation. For this reason one of the overarching objectives of agricultural policy in the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 is the facilitation of on-farm nature restoration, climate mitigation and adaptation.

These principles are embedded in the future support which are all fully detailed in the Rural Payments and Services website.

The changes in 2025 include new protections for peatlands and wetlands, a calving internal condition for the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme and the beginning of the Whole Farm Plan. Collectively these changes contribute to emissions reductions. A summary of the changes is provided below with links to the relevant page on the Rural Payments website.

Cross compliance

New requirements for peatlands and wetlands for 2025 can be found here: Cross Compliance - What's new for 2025? (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/inspections/all inspections/cross-compliance/detailed-guidance/what-s-new-for-cross-compliance/)

Whole Farm Plan

In 2025 we began to introduce the Whole Farm Plan which will help farmers and crofters to measure the impact of their farm or croft and find ways to become more efficient and to cut emissions. There are five parts to the Whole Farm Plan. In 2025, to receive support through the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), applicants should have completed at least two of them. More details on the Whole Farm Plan can be found here:

Whole Farm Plan quick guide (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/agricultural-reform programme/whole-farm-plan-quick-guide/)

SBSS

Changes for 2025 Reducing calving interval to reduce the time a herd is not producing beef, but is creating greenhouse gases.

SBSS changes for 2026 intention to remove calving interval conditionality for some small herd producers.

Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS) quick guide (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/agricultural-reform-programme/scottish-suckler-beef-support scheme--ssbss--quick-guide/)

Greening

Changes for 2025 - EFA – changes to the EFA Agroforesty option to include EFA small or farm woodlands:

Greening guidance (2025) (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/basic-payment-scheme/basic-payment-scheme-full guidance/greening---bps/greening-guidance-2025/greening---introduction-and-updates-for-2022/)

Greening guidance (2026)

(https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/basic-payment-scheme/basic-payment-scheme-full guidance/greening---bps/greening-guidance-2026/)

Changes for 2026

The main change being the removal of both the 75% exemption for Temporary Grassland on arable land and Grassland on Claimed land. This will require more businesses to undertake Ecological Focus Area activity.

Changes for 2027

The intent is to increase the arable EFA requirement to 7% and review the option to introduce mandatory PGRS EFA requirement with associated EFA options;

More detail is available under the FAQ sections of Greening:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/all-schemes/basic-payment-scheme/basic-payment-scheme-full guidance/greening---bps/greening-guidance-2026/greening-faq/)

The Payment Strategy for agriculture in 2025 was approved by the Cabinet Secretary on 3 February 2025. The 2025 payments strategy aims to maintain the recent years payment timings for Direct Payments and Scottish Rural Development Plan (SRDP) funding.

Further support will be developed in due course which will be co-developed with the industry and will align with the objectives of the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024. You can keep updated on these changes by accessing the Agricultural Reform Route Map which gives farmers, crofters and the wider agriculture sector information on what is changing, and when it will change, as we move to a new framework of support. The Agricultural Reform Route Map can be accessed here: (https://www.ruralpayments.org/topics/agricultural-reform-programme/arp-route-map/)

I trust that this information provides the information you are seeking.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.