Crown Estate Scotland farm tenants are to be offered the opportunity to receive extra support with their future business planning to help build resilience and sustainability in to their farming activities. Agricultural businesses across Crown Estate Scotland’s four rural estates, will be eligible to apply to a fund which is being launched today designed to meet the farmer’s portion of the Scottish Government’s Integrated Land Management Plan (ILMP) scheme.
The fund will be available to over 120 farm businesses renting land under medium and longer-term leases. The ILMP scheme provides farmers with both a professional review of their business and tailored business advice.
- It receives around 80% funding from the Scottish Government
- Normally a farmer contribution of £500 - £900 is still required to cover the remaining 20%
- Crown Estate Scotland will provide up to £500 per tenant farm, on a first come first served basis, to help cover this cost.
The ILMP specialist advice is entirely flexible and can be anything from technical advice, to detailed budgets and cashflows, to legal advice about succession.
Crown Estate Scotland has worked with The Farm Advisory Service as well as SAC Consulting, who will deliver the advice and arrangements, to ensure that its tenant farmers are able to effectively access this support.
Andy Wells, Head of Property for Crown Estate Scotland, said: “Farmers are facing a number of challenges right now and we hope that this announcement will help our tenants to access the business planning support which will help them future-proof their business.
“As a responsible landlord we want to help our tenants plan and prepare their businesses for future challenges, and we also want to help facilitate best practice and new ideas within Scotland’s agricultural sector. Strengthening the sector in turn benefits the communities it supports.”
