Scotland’s rural economy minister Fergus Ewing has pledged to leave no stone unturned to ensure farmers and crofters continue to receive support payments to stay on the land.
Speaking at a Royal Highland Show breakfast within hours of the EU referendum result being announced, Mr Ewing said farmers would be the most anxious and affected of all sectors, and they therefore required the uncertainty about their future to be removed as swiftly as possible.
With EU subsidies to Scotland’s farming industry worth 4.6 billion euros between 2014-2020, and food and drink exports to the EU worth £1.9 billion last year alone, the significance of the referendum result is clear.
“Farmers and crofters will wake up all over the country to ask themselves what the future may hold,” Mr Ewing said.
“It is important to reassure [them] that the UK is not coming out of the EU today or tomorrow.
“The Scottish Government will be pressing the UK Government to provide clarity as to the future of farm subsidy payments.
“They are necessary for the farming and crofting communities and vital for the Less Favoured Areas. There will be farmers, especially in the LFA – which is most of Scotland – who will be extremely concerned.”
Mr Ewing pointed out that the UK Government has previously said it has no plan B for the farming industry.
He added: “They have zilch. No details, no information. Plainly now that there has been what’s being described as an historic democratic catastrophe, that gap must be filled as quickly as possible.
“The farming community are entitled above all others to reassurance as swiftly as possible.”
