Agricultural bill consultation

Scottish Government proposals for a new Agricultural Bill are open for consultation.

The new Bill is expected to help deliver Government’s Vision for Agriculture, with a focus on high quality food production; climate mitigation and adaptation; nature restoration; and wider rural development. The proposed Bill would also herald a change in rural support, linking half of all direct agricultural and crofting payments to climate action.

Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “We are supporting our farmers, crofters and land managers to produce more high quality and sustainable food, as well as ensuring our food system is more resilient.
“The fact is that high quality food production is very much a part of meeting our net zero targets and dealing with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. We have ambitious targets and right across the agriculture sector we have the talent and skills to meet our aims.

“I would urge people from all walks of life to get involved and make their views known – these issues affect us all.”

The Bill sits alongside the new National Development Plan for Crofting, introduced in March last year.
The Agricultural Bill consultation closes on 21 November, with new legislation expected to be in place from 2026.

The crofting community is encouraged to help shape the future of agriculture in Scotland by sharing their views at www.consult.gov.scot.

National goose policy review

Members of the public have until 17 October to return their responses to Scottish Government’s five-yearly national goose policy review.

The previous review was carried out in 2017 and recognised that: “There are increasing conflicts in some locations due to growing numbers of some species of migratory and breeding geese and expansion of range, including into new locations.”

This year’s review asks how well the objectives set out in the previous review have delivered, including the aim to ‘minimise economic losses experienced by farmers and crofters as a result of the presence of geese’.

Earlier this year Scottish Government announced funding to help crofters manage the impacts of greylag geese. The Scottish Crofting Federation welcomed the move, but highlighted the funds were not enough to resolve the issue for crofters in the longer term.

SCF Chair Donald MacKinnon said: “It is encouraging that there has been acknowledgement of the threat to crofting and to biodiversity, and the promise of some funding. However, realistically the amounts we are being offered for the islands that support this biodiversity are derisory. It will barely keep the present numbers static let alone reduce them.”

“For example, let’s look at Uist, where crofting agriculture is High Nature Value and the resulting biodiversity world-renowned. The adaptive management scheme on Uist used to have a budget of £40, 000 per year. This was reduced until it tottered along with about £10,000 per year. Then this was cut to zero. Crofters have agreed that they can live with about 2500 birds, and occasional rises to 4000 may be tolerated for short periods. We now have over 8000 birds grazing, trampling and polluting the crops.”
Crofters disheartened by the damage geese cause are encouraged to respond to the review, which is available at www.nature.scot.