Farmer income plummeted as SNP botched CAP payments

27 Apr 2017

Farming income across Scotland decreased by almost half as rural communities struggled amid the SNP’s chaotic approach to CAP payments.

Figures released today revealed, in 2015/16, the average income fell by £11,500 to £12,600.

The decrease came as rural communities were forced to wait months extra for hundreds of millions in CAP payments.

The Scottish Conservatives said today the statistics confirmed the SNP was letting down rural Scotland when it needed help the most.

And shadow rural affairs secretary Peter Chapman said it underlined just how important it was for the Scottish Government to get the farming payments right in future.

Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs secretary Peter Chapman said:

“This goes to show that when farmers across Scotland were enduring huge falls in income, the SNP was nowhere to be seen.

“Instead of supporting them when they needed it most, the Scottish Government was starving the rural economy of hundreds of millions of pounds after messing up the CAP payments system.

“This will have made life for the country’s farming communities all the more difficult.

“This drop in income is significant, and the Scottish Government needs to spell out exactly what it’s going to do to help.

“It is extremely worrying that while Scotland’s food and drink is recording record sales and exports our farmers are not sharing in any of this success.

“Farmers desperately need a fairer share of consumer spending for providing quality food reared to the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental conditions.”

For more information, visit:
https://news.gov.scot/news/scottish-farm-incomes