Scottish Government ministers have been accused of leading a “chaos” and are being asked to “come clean” over plans for future agricultural investment.
The Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) provides grants to help farmers and crop traders invest in new equipment, technology and environmental improvements.
Highlands and Islands MSP Douglas Ross harshly criticized the rollout of the scheme, saying farmers, crop traders and agricultural workers were “furious” after missing out on promised subsidies.
Mr Ross said key priority groups, including young farmers, new entrants, tenant farmers and island businesses, were repeatedly denied special consideration despite being assured they would be given special consideration.
Mr Ross quoted a Lanarkshire farmer in the Holyrood debate who told Agriculture Secretary Jim Fairley that the process was more like “selling lottery tickets for a fund” than running a fair and transparent system.
He called on the government to publish a full breakdown of successful and unsuccessful applications by constituency and region to give a “big picture” of how the funds were allocated.
“The SNP announced this plan with great fanfare, but it has completely failed to reach the people who need it most,” Mr Ross said.
He said Fairey “has not answered many important questions” and added that he needs to explain why even modest grant applications were rejected.
Mr Ross also wrote to seek clarity on what the minister described as a “huge number” of ineligible applications, accusing the government of mishandling a process aimed at supporting Scotland’s rural backbone.
The Scottish Government has announced that the scheme has been significantly oversubscribed and has since been expanded, with Local Affairs Minister Mairi Gougeon announcing an additional £7m of funding, taking the total to more than £21m.
He said FFIS is designed to provide “practical support” to agribusinesses through investments in agritech and environmental projects. Ministers also indicated that further funding rounds were being considered “given the significant levels of demand”.
NFU Scotland acknowledged the high level of interest in the scheme, saying the number of applications had “exceeded the funding available” and said this was a clear sign of ambition and appetite for investment in Scottish agriculture.
The union pointed out that continued lobbying by NFU Scotland had secured a significant budget increase earlier this year, bringing total funding to more than £21.4 million.
The group said while it welcomed the success of some farmers, it was “understandably disappointed” that many others had seen their strong applications rejected.
The report said initial feedback highlighted concerns about “perceived inconsistencies” in how bids were evaluated and low success rates among ministers’ priority groups. NFU Scotland said it would seek further consultation with ministers to understand these issues.
The union added that farmers’ “clear and growing appetite” to invest in sustainability and productivity highlights the need for long-term and well-funded support plans.
He said he was already working with the Scottish Government to develop the next round of FFIS, backed by a budget of £26m, to ensure lessons from the current round were carried forward.
