Chamber and committees

Sustainable agriculture in Scotland has a vital role in producing high quality food for the nation, helping to reduce carbon emissions, delivering wider environmental benefits and improved biodiversity, and ensuring we use appropriate land to allow us to meet our climate change targets.

We are taking a partnership approach to addressing climate change within agriculture. We are building on the work of the farmer-led groups, through the establishment of the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which is co-chaired by the President of the NFUS and has a number of farmers on the Board, and we are seeking wider stakeholder views through our consultation on ‘Agricultural Transition in Scotland: first steps towards our national policy’ which is open until 17 November 2021. We also have other existing networks through which we engage with farmers and land managers, including the Agriculture and Rural Development Stakeholder Group, the Farm Advisory Service, Farming for a Better Climate initiative, the Crofting Commission, the Integrating Trees Network and new initiatives being established for new entrants to farming.

As part of the Scottish Government’s 100 Days commitments within the portfolio of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands, we have established:

• the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which will contribute to the Scottish Government’s work to implement policy reform, incorporating the relevant recommendations of the farmer-led groups to cut emissions across agriculture, support the production of sustainable, high quality food, and design a new support system and approach. A National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022, with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this Autumn;
• the Commission for the Land-based Learning Review, a short-term advisory group which will undertake a root and branch review of learning in Scotland’s land-based and aquaculture sectors - from early years to adulthood - to provide opportunities and qualifications through school, college, university and work-based learning, including apprenticeship, for more people, and specifically more women, to work with and on the land, particularly in green skills. The Commission has a reporting deadline of December 2022 and;
• the Scottish Agritourism Sector Group, which will explore how agritourism can deliver a range of Scottish Government policies across tourism, agriculture and food and drink and create a national strategy for agritourism focused around consumer demand, quality of experience, sustainability and a clearly defined sector and customer experience. The Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands will be launching the growth strategy at the Scottish Agritourism Conference in November.

The Scottish Government welcomes the Farming for 1.5 report and will consider the recommendations carefully along with the other reports recently received, including the five farming sector farmer-led groups.

We have established the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which will contribute to the Scottish Government’s work to implement policy reform, incorporating the relevant recommendations of the farmer-led groups to cut emissions across agriculture, support the production of sustainable, high quality food, and design a new support system and approach.

The Board will create a package of measures, which we will fund, that can be agreed as part of our approach to COP 26. This National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022 with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this autumn. It should also be noted that Mike Robinson, co-chair of Farming 1.5, is a member of the Board.

We are committed to supporting our world-class producers thrive whilst contributing to our world-leading climate change agenda and response to the biodiversity crisis.

The concept of a Suckler Beef Climate Scheme (SBCS) was one output of the Farmer Led Group initiative, which has been followed by the recent establishment of the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB), and the publication of the consultation on a sustainable agriculture transition. The ARIOB will help to develop new proposals for sustainable farm support by considering the Climate Change Plan Update and the Farmer-led Groups recommendations, alongside industry reports like Farming for 1.5C. The group will place farmers and crofters at the heart of a future support framework and help Scottish agriculture become more economically and environmentally sustainable.

The ARIOB has been asked to create a package of measures, which we will fund, that can be agreed as part of our approach to COP 26. This National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022, with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this autumn, advancing the work undertaken by the Suckler Beef Group.

We have established the Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board which will contribute to the Scottish Government’s work to implement policy reform to cut emissions across agriculture, support the production of sustainable, high quality food, and design a new support system and approach. The Board will consider the Farming 1.5 Report together with the recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, WWF Scotland, Just Transition, NFUS, the Climate Change Plan update and Scotland's Climate Assembly's Recommendations for Action Report when devising practical measures for delivery. It should also be noted that Mike Robinson, co-chair of Farming 1.5, is a member of the Board.

The Board will create a package of measures, which we will fund, that can be agreed as part of our approach to COP 26. This National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022 with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this autumn.

We are committed to working with industry and partners to best enable the agriculture sector to contribute to our world-leading emissions targets, support biodiversity and ensure a Just Transition for all involved. We therefore have launched a consultation which will ensure everyone can play their part in shaping the future of farming, food production and land use in Scotland.

We have committed to shift half of all funding for farming and crofting to conditional support by 2025, which will see farmers and crofters rewarded for their key role in delivering wider biodiversity and environmental benefits.

Scotland will continue to provide support to farmers and crofters for the work they do in producing food but with that support comes the requirement to farm in the most sustainable way possible.

The newly established Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board’s immediate priority and focus will be on how to make progress on cutting emissions from the livestock sector, including suckler beef. The Board will consider the Farming 1.5 Report together with the recommendations of the Farmer-led Groups, WWF Scotland, Just Transition, NFUS, the Climate Change Plan update and Scotland's Climate Assembly's Recommendations for Action Reportwhen devising practical measures for delivery. It should also be noted that Mike Robinson, co-chair of Farming 1.5, is a member of the Board.

The Board will create a package of measures, which we will fund, that can be agreed as part of our approach to COP 26. This National Test Programme will include early progress on reducing livestock emissions and the package should be implemented by spring 2022 with recruitment of farmers and crofters expected to begin this autumn.

Scotland already has robust assessment processes in place to support decisions regarding woodland creation proposals on agricultural land. This approach is based on the findings of The Woodland Expansion Advisory Group (WEAG). This group was established to provide advice to ministers on which types of land are best for tree planting in Scotland and its membership included the National Farmers Union and the National Sheep Association. Key to the WEAG recommendations and the current decision-making process are the principles that the focus of woodland expansion should be away from prime agricultural land, and that while grazing land has significant potential for the creation of high quality and high value woodlands, woodland creation should avoid adverse impacts on local patterns of agriculture.

Under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) (Forestry) 2017 regulations, all woodland creation cases above the threshold size of 20 hectares, are required to be screened. Screening assesses the likelihood of a significant impact on the environment (including any potential impacts on land-use) and whether a full environmental assessment is required. For sensitive areas, no threshold size applies. Where a full assessment is required, before Scottish Forestry reaches a decision on whether or not to grant consent, the applicant must prepare an environmental report, which is subject to public consultation.

As such, the Scottish Government currently has no plans to implement recommendation 11 of the Farming for 1.5C report, that “There should be a public interest test applied if more than 50% of a holding is planned to be afforested”.

In December 2020, the Scottish Government published an Update to the Climate Change Plan 2018-2032, which sets out the Scottish Government's pathway to our new and ambitious targets set by the Climate Change Act 2019 . In the development of this update, the Scottish Government reviewed its woodland creation targets and, as a result, increased them, committing to a new target of 18,000 hectares per annum by 2024-25.

The Scottish Government is grateful to the Farming for 1.5C Inquiry for contributing to the discussion about how we collectively reach our climate change targets. We will consider the recommendations of the report as policies and implementation mechanisms in this area are developed.

These will build on the range of policies and initiatives that the Scottish Government has in place to support this ambition and to help farmers, crofters and land managers to become more aware of the multiple benefits that woodland creation can have for their businesses. For example, working with partners, the Scottish Government currently supports advisory visits to farms to identify opportunities for farm and croft woodlands and agroforestry.

We do not support the halting of further expansion of salmon farming. The 2018 report by the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Salmon Farming in Scotland , noted calls for a moratorium on new salmon farm developments and expansion of existing sides, but considered that there was insufficient evidence to support this. The Scottish Government agreed with the Committee’s recommendations that the status quo was not an option.

Since then, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s new finfish regulatory framework has launched and, through the Farmed Fish Health Framework, we have delivered a strengthened farmed fish sea lice compliance regime, including sea lice reporting legislation which came into force in May.

We are also committed to taking forward an immediate programme of work to better protect wildlife and the environment, including a response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group in September 2021; consultation on a spatially adaptive sea lice risk assessment framework for fish farms by the end of the year; and strengthened controls on sea lice, wrasse and fish escapes in the course of 2021-22. There are no grounds to support a moratorium.