I’ve farmed all my working life and currently run 180 South Country Cheviot ewes, on our 120-acre family farm in Galloway.  

The sheep are adaptive multi paddock grazed: intensive grazing and trampling impact, followed by long periods of rest, that allow the plants to thrive and for their roots to enhance the life of the soil below. 

The SAP proposal is to scrap the minimum 3-hectare limit and cap BPS payments at £100, 000 per business thereby front-loading the first few hectares of everyone who is eligible to claim. 

Why small-scale producers need support 

The removal of the 3-hectare limit would significantly introduce payments at an enhanced level for small scale vegetable producers. This is a sector that is crying out for support, and a sector we so badly need, to provide fresh nutritious produce at a local level in Scotland.

Currently Scotland imports the majority of it’s vegetable needs. Needs that can be met here, using environmentally compatible methods if we had this fairer distribution of support. 

Building resilience in family farms

The front loading of support for all businesses, by enhancing the payment on the first few hectares would go some way to giving family farms in every sector increased resilience.

Resilience that would enable the exploration of innovative farming methods, and resilience to the risks involved in transitioning from current farming practices to regenerative and agroecological farming. 

Why crofts and family farms matter

Crofts and family farms are the backbone of our rural communities, but also due to the economics of scale, the most vulnerable to challenges and shocks in farming. By enhancing the support for the first few hectares for everyone the likelihood that these smaller businesses will continue into the future, and not be absorbed into ever larger holdings is more assured. 

If crofts and family farms are resilient, then rural schools, local food supply chains, and the many businesses that depend on them will also remain resilient, helping to sustain thriving rural communities. 

Securing a sustainable future

On our farm we’ve already made significant steps on our agroecological journey and increased our profitability as a result. But we are a small business and therefore vulnerable. If implemented, this policy would give our farm the opportunity to remain a family farm for another generation, as part of a rural community, reinvigorated by the transition to regenerative and agroecological farming in Scotland,

Though these proposals do not directly promote the adoption of agroecological farming, it would facilitate it in a socially just and sustainable way. 

- 23 September 2025