Farm leaders are seeking urgent clarity after the Scottish government slashed the agricultural budget for a second successive year.
The further cuts 'undermines' the Scottish government claims that there will be no 'cliff edge' when it comes to farm support, industry figures say.
In a letter outlining 2023/24 in-year budget changes to the Scottish Parliament, the government intends to cut several portfolios to address a significant shortfall in the wider budget.
In the Emergency Budget Review in 2022 to support people and businesses through the cost-of-living crisis, £33m awarded to Scotland as part of the 2019 Bew Review into the fair allocation of agricultural support in the UK was deferred.
As that £33m is part of the £620m of ringfenced funding from the UK Treasury, the Scottish government is obliged to spend it as agricultural support and related spending.
In June, NFU Scotland said it received 'categorical assurance' from the Scottish government that the £33m deferred from the agricultural budget last year would be returned.
But the union's president, Martin Kennedy, said there was 'justifiable anger and frustration' that, for the second year in a row, millions of pounds of ‘Bew’ money had been deferred from the agricultural budget.
“The entire Scottish Rural Affairs budget, including agriculture, currently makes up just over 0.5 percent of total government spending in Scotland," he said.
"For this, farmers and crofters manage 70% of the land, generate a gross output of £3.3 billion annually and make an unparalleled contribution to the economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing of Scotland – we believe this represents a fantastic return on investment.
“The Scottish government must immediately return in full all agricultural support funds through accessible measures so farmers and crofters can deliver on what are Scottish government priorities.”
NFU Scotland has requested an explicit commitment in writing from the Scottish government as to when it will return outstanding funds to the agricultural portfolio.
In the union's intentions survey, almost two-thirds of farmers identified uncertainty around future agri policy and funding as the most significant threat to their businesses.
