The next round of applications for Scotland’s Agri-Environmental Climate Change scheme is now open, with funding available to farmers converting to organic.
Financial support will also be available for other land management practices that enhance the environment through the Scottish government scheme.
Support is available to farmers and growers across the whole of Scotland and up to £280 per hectare is available for converted arable land in the first two years.
The funding application window opened this week and will close on 21 April.
To guide farmers on how they can apply, and what organic conversion involves, Soil Association Certification will be hosting awebinaron Friday 15 February.
Clare McDermott, business development director at Soil Association Certification, said:“This is a really good time to convert to organic with the recent renewed government focus on preserving and enhancing our environment, including a commitment to protecting our soils.
“Farming is going to need to play an integral role in achieving this and the fundamental principles of organic – enhancing soil health, working with ecosystems, and caring for the environment – are wholly in line with the ambitions being set out by government.
“We also know that the public demand is there for organic produce in many parts of the world. People are becoming ever more aware of how their food is produced and we are now in our seventh consecutive year of market growth for organic in the UK.
“In 2017 we saw sales from our Scottish licensees rise by 28 per cent, so there are good opportunities for farmers who want to meet that rising demand.”
Dumfriesshire farmerKen Porter is manager of1,500 hectares of mixed livestock at Tanlawhill, nearLangholm, and received around £16,000 a year for five years via AECS.
“I applied for the job of farm manager here in 2001 because the trustees wanted to go organic,” he said.“I like that way of farming – not using chemicals, having to work with the land and the stock.
“The AECS payment is definitely worth the effort and I got a lot of help when I applied to becertifiedby the Soil Association.”
