The current agri-environment budget falls well short of funding the significant levels of capital investment that will be required on many Scottish farms if they are to comply with new slurry storage rules coming into force over the next four years.
That is the firm belief of NFU Scotland which this week (March 29) called for funding for slurry storage investment to be ring-fenced within the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) and for the grant rate available per project to be increased.
The union has also demanded funding be made more widely accessible. From a total AECS budget of some 290 million since 2016, it appears less than 2 per cent has been allocated to slurry storage, with only 134 slurry storage applications approved.
Precision applications
In addition, while the focus of investment through the Sustainable Agricultural Capital Grant Scheme (SACGS) has shifted to precision slurry applications and slurry store covers, the 5m earmarked for this year is claimed to fall well short of the requirement for the whole country.
NFUS has insisted that to be effective in reducing emissions and enhancing the environment, SACGS must be significantly expanded in terms of overall available funding, eligible expenditure, funding per business and grant rates.
The calls are given some urgency because of new regulations now in force which require minimum slurry storage capacity of 22 weeks for housed cattle and 26 weeks for housed pigs across Scotland.
NFU Scotland President Martin Kennedy said: The union supports policies and practices that aim to reduce emissions and diffuse pollution, but if reducing emissions and improving water quality are to be attained through a just transition, then transformational funding needs to be made available in addition to the backstop of regulatory compliance.
