The Basic Payment Scheme was introduced in 2015 and replaced the Single Farm Payment Scheme. It is the main support payment to farmers and landowners in Scotland.
The payment is based on the area of eligible land entered onto the SAF claim form by May every year subject to an equivalent number of Basic Payment entitlements being held by a claimant.
There are three different rates of payment based on splitting the land into three regions; Region 1 being permanent grass and arable and Regions 2 and 3 being hill ground. The current payment rates are:
Payment Rates for BPS and Greening 2022
| Region | BPS | Greening | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £147.26 | £75.82 | £223.08 |
| 2 | £32.39 | £12.82 | £45.21 |
| 3 | £9.43 | £4.30 | £13.73 |
BPS payments are guaranteed by Scottish Government up to and including 2024 in their current format.
Scottish Government recently (November 2022) announced that BPS payments would be extended for an extra year to 2025, though there would be some additional conditionality of payments in 2025.
Other Scottish Support Schemes
Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme
The SUSS provides an additional payment per ewe hogg per year for farms more than 80% region 3 land and less than 200Ha of region 1 land. The payment varies from year to year but is c. £65/ewe hogg/year
Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme
A payment of c. £100/calf born is available to suckler cow producers on an annual basis. The payment is higher in the Islands.
Less Favoured Area Support Scheme
LFASS is an annual payment to beef and sheep farmers in the Less Favoured Areas of Scotland. Scottish Government has committed to maintaining this payment through to and including 2024.
The payment is specific to each business and complicated to calculate but can be significant, particularly for large scale upland beef and sheep farms.
Future Support
Policy in Scotland is still being developed.
It is likely that a new Agriculture Bill will be launched in 2026 that will provide the framework for farm and rural support in Scotland into the 2030’s.
The broad detail available at the moment are shown in the Scottish Government consultation:
The consultation indicates that the current BPS payments will be split into four tiers, with less direct support available and more support conditional on undertaking carbon reduction and biodiversity enhancement measures that are still to be defined:
Source: Scottish Government
The draft agriculture bill is due to be published during 2023 though the timescale remains uncertain.
