E: Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands
E: Acting Minister for Climate Action
02 April 2025
Dear Mairi and Alasdair,
A Just Transition assessment of new agricultural support conditions
We are concerned that just transition principles are not being robustly applied to new agricultural support conditions and we would like to discuss this with you.
Through the Agriculture Reform Programme the Scottish Government has committed to support a Just Transition in agriculture. The Scottish Government rightly recognises that the “journey is fair and creates a better future for everyone – regardless of where they live, what they do, and who they are.” In late 2024 the Scottish Government provided the Just Transition Commission an update on its progress towards a final Just Transition Plan for Land Use and Agriculture. In our 2024 annual report ‘Conditions for Success’ we noted concerns that this plan remained in a relatively early stage. The lack of progress is of particular concern given the crucial role this sector plays in mitigating and adapting to climate change and biodiversity loss in Scotland, as well as its vulnerability to climate impacts. While progress on evolving new agriculture and land use support mechanisms remains concerningly slow given the nature and climate emergencies, the framework and opportunities to evolve a more equitable support structure and deliver a Just Transition through the new Agriculture and Rural Communities
(Scotland) Act 2024 is welcome.
The Just Transition Commission is keen to establish what fairness and inequality considerations have been taken into account in the development of these new agricultural support conditions, both as individual policies and collectively (i.e. when stacked upon each other) and what impact these could have on climate and nature targets.
Risks to small producers
It is well-recognised that the current model of area-based direct agricultural support does little to safeguard small farmers and crofters, who have lower economies of scale and higher relative production and compliance costs. Scottish Environment LINK suggest that the “current basic payment system lacks any clear policy objective, and is both inequitable and inefficient” and call for future schemes to “tackle the pervasive inequalities in the current system of farming and land management”.
While small producers will not play a significant role in driving the required climate change emissions reductions the Scottish Government seek from agriculture, they are often at the forefront of nature friendly farming. Small producers are important land managers, particularly the half million hectares of crofting common grazings that include important peatland and wetland habitats. Their agricultural activities can often be vital from a biodiversity perspective (e.g. cattle grazing on the machair in the Outer Hebrides, and in corncrake habitat provisioning). Further, they also play an important socio-cultural role in communities and economies, particularly in some of Scotland’s most fragile regions.
We have heard from concerned stakeholders that small and micro claimants of rural support are now at “risk of dropping out of the system”, with a high proportion of these claimants “being low-income pensioners and adults with learning difficulties.” The Scottish Crofters Federation note that crofters are “already disproportionately encumbered by the whole farm plan requirements imposed by the new agricultural policy” adding that is “not financially viable for crofters to delegate this work to a specialist advisor”.
We note with concern that the Scottish Government has removed the subsidised advisory support for crofts & small farms through the Farm Advisory Service. The limited local endeavours to address that gap, are too restricted(e.g. see Shetland Livestock Marketing Group small claimant support initiative).
Agricultural support must be in place to address nature recovery, as well as climate mitigation and adaptation. Without it, Scottish Government targets on climate and nature will not be met. In addition, the lack of such support runs a risk of discriminating against those without the skills or confidence to undertake the required paperwork. The risk of losing small producers from the agricultural support system may lead to reduced rural economic activity and agricultural land abandonment in fragile communities and mean that the Scottish Government loses the support of these small producers to help deliver its own objectives for rural and island communities, economies and land management.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet to discuss these matters in greater depth at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Dave Reay and Satwat Rehman
Co-Chairs of the Just Transition Commission