Scottish farm entrants to benefit from £5m funding
Scottish new farming entrants are getting a £5m boost as part of the latest round of Rural Priorities funding, worth more than £20m, announced by the Scottish Government this week.
The funding will protect and support around 1,200 jobs across 11 regions in Scotland, and the latest awards bring the total of funding distributed by the scheme since 2008 to nearly £550m.
Scottish rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead said: “I am delighted that almost £5m of this funding is targeted at supporting new entrants to farming – a key priority which the government has outlined to enhance the future of Scottish agriculture.
“A further £11 million of the total will support climate change targets, one of our national outcomes, which will also help improve the viability of existing farming businesses.”
“I am delighted that almost £5m of this funding is targeted at supporting new entrants to farming – a key priority which the government has outlined to enhance the future of Scottish agriculture.”
Richard Locchead, Scottish rural affairs secretary
Projects approved for support in the latest round of funding include £100,000 for a new entrant sheep farmer to aid him developing a sheep dairy business.
A&S Cairns of Waltson Braehead Farm, Carnwath will use the funding to invest in a new herringbone sheep milking parlour, sheep building, feed storage and six months worth of slurry storage facilities.
In addition, the sheep milking flock will expand by 25% to meet demand from a local cheese maker; it is expected the funding will help secure two permanent and two temporary jobs.
This is the twelfth round of Rural Priorities funding, based mainly on Axis 1 (business development) and Axis 3 (rural communities and rural enterprise) projects.
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