More than 7,900 Scottish producers will receive their share of £22 million of European funding next week under the Scottish Beef Calf Scheme (SBCS).

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead announced yesterday that payments will be made from Tuesday (24th April). Payment information will be available for producers to view on Rural Payments Online from today.

Under this year’s scheme, claims were received from 7,902 producers for around 434,000 animals, an increase of 10,000 from last year.

Upon announcing the start of payments, the Rural Affairs Secretary said, "These payments form part of an important support framework which is always vital, and never more so than in the current economic climate.”

Mr Locchead also said that he expected 95 per cent of recipients will receive their payment by the end of the month and revealed that funding will continue at current levels through the introduction of the Scottish Beef Scheme in January, which replaces the SBCS. He said, “This will provide much needed ongoing support to Scotland’s livestock farmers until new CAP regulations come into force.”

This year's payment rate is set at £102.44 for each of the first ten eligible animals, and £51.22   for the remainder. The scheme, which is funded entirely by the EU, offers direct support to specialist beef producers. The Scottish government said “Suckler herds form the backbone of quality beef production in Scotland and provide environmental benefits in fragile areas.”

The new Scottish Beef Scheme was introduced in January 2012 following discussions held as part of the CAP review. It replaces the SBCS and allows funding to be targeted towards smaller herds through reweighted payment levels where the first ten eligible animals will receive three times the rate of any subsequent eligible animal. There is no limit to the number of claims which can be made.

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