6. To ask the Scottish Government how it will help farmers to plan for their succession. (S6O-02685)

Scotland’s Farm Advisory Service, which is funded by the Scottish Government, currently offers farmers and crofters access to up to £1,000 in funding for specialist one-to-one advice on succession planning. The Farm Advisory Service also provides extensive guidance and advice on succession planning.

In addition, the Scottish Land Matching Service, which is also funded by the Scottish Government, is a free service that engages with those who are seeking or offering joint-venture arrangements in relation to land. It provides a platform for planning for succession for farmers and crofters who want to step back from their business.

As the Cabinet secretary will be aware, many of Scotland’s farmers are elderly, and the younger generation are not attracted by the profession. Succession planning is essential, not only for the future of Scottish agriculture but in order to ensure that we tackle rural depopulation. Will the cabinet secretary ensure that the commitment to farmers for succession planning remains in place for the foreseeable future?

Annie Wells has raised an important point. I am glad that she asked the question, because we need to encourage our farmers, landowners and land managers to think about succession planning.

I highlight the Scottish Land Matching Service’s valuable work in that regard. It is currently working with the Crofting Commission to discuss succession in relation to crofting. I am committed to maintaining that support, and to ensuring that we do all that we can to get new entrants into the industry, because this is—as much as there are challenges—a really exciting time in our rural economy. It has a strong future, so I encourage people to get involved and to think of agriculture as a career choice for the future.

Farming is an intergenerational affair, and succession is often about custodianship and the viability of the farm business in the future. I was recently at the Dalmally blackface tup sale; the place was full of young people who are desperate to get involved in blackface sheep breeding.

Does the Cabinet secretary agree that Scotland’s farmers are better served in that regard by the Scottish National Party’s commitment to active farming and food production, and that the best thing that the Tories could do to help farmers to plan for the future would be to demand from Westminster clarity about future funding for agriculture?

I agree entirely with that. We need certainty and clarity from the United Kingdom Government about future rural funding after 2025, because we have no idea what funding we are going to receive beyond then. Of course, if we were still in the European Union we would not only have certainty about funding but would have it for a seven-year period, so we would be able to provide longer-term assurance.

Agriculture is devolved, and it is crucial that Scottish Government policies are unhindered by the threats that are posed by the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the subsidy control regime and the lack of a long-term replacement for EU funds.