Preparing for Sustainable Farming in Scotland: a reminder
NRM
Agriculture
The Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) scheme focuses on incentives to Scottish farmers and crofters to help them understand their soil nutrient status, carbon emissions, and sequestration. It also identifies practical solutions that can increase production efficiencies and lower emissions.
There are three options currently being funded as part of PSF that Scottish farmers, crofters, and agricultural contractors can claim funding for. These include:
- Soil sampling and analysis (pH P K C)
- Carbon audits
- Animal health and welfare interventions
Read on to find out more about the PSF, including what you need to do to qualify for each of the three options, a link to online applications, and how NRM can help.
Soil sampling and analysis
To qualify and claim for the Soil Analysis and Development Payment, you must confirm that you have done a carbon audit, it aligns to PAS 2050 standards, and it has been completed within the last 3 years. For example, a carbon audit completed on 2nd February 2020 ensures that any soil analysis completed by 2nd October 2023 is eligible to claim in the 2023 scheme year. If you intend to conduct your first or perform a new carbon audit, then the timing of the audit can be before or after the soil sampling. However, you can’t make a soil analysis claim unless a valid carbon audit has been done.
The Scottish Government (SG) restricts the total cost of soil analysis you can claim each year by calculating a maximum allowance. This is based on 20% of the eligible land area being sampled in a year. However, since I last blogged about the PSF scheme, the SG has made it easier for farmers to claim back costs when the whole farm has been sampled in one year. This adds some flexibility for businesses that have actual analysis costs that way exceed their annual allowance. The remaining costs (up to the annual maximum allowance) can be claimed back in subsequent years. This is intended to help businesses that soil sample their whole farm every 4 to 5 years rather than a proportion each year.
There are a few extra administrative actions to get right to ensure that you are eligible for claims in subsequent years. For example, you must have an invoice from a previous year that is connected to a claim, and you must have reached the maximum cost allowance in that previous year. You can only make one annual claim for soil analysis, and you can’t keep claiming for gathering the samples in subsequent years.
Note: soil analysis must include analysis for pH, P, K, and C. The Scottish government does not include Mg as a mandatory element for eligibility, but it strongly recommends that it is included. Magnesium is traditionally always included as an element in standard soil analysis, as it is classed as a major nutrient and is essential for healthy crop growth.
For carbon analysis, you can either use loss on ignition (LOI), a reliable method that is used to determine soil organic matter (SOM) and good for detecting trends over time. Alternatively, the Dumas method can be used, a more involved technique that measures the amount of carbon released as CO2. This is more appropriate if you want to calculate the tonnes of carbon contained in a soil and are interested in carbon offsetting schemes.
Carbon audits
The SG is hoping that this option will raise awareness of how well each farm business is performing in terms of its impact on the climate. Funding for carbon audits will provide a baseline carbon footprint, determine the sources of greenhouse gases across the business, and flag the hotspots. By going through the process, management changes can be identified that should lead to improved efficiencies, lower emissions, and reduced operating costs.
It seems that the SG is insisting on a carbon audit if you want to take advantage of the soil analysis option. So, it’s worth getting in touch with your local Farm Business Adviser, ensuring that the audit is aligned with PAS 2050, and creating an action plan that will help you on the journey towards minimising your emissions.
Animal health and welfare interventions
Improving animal health and welfare has many direct and indirect benefits to both farm businesses and the animals themselves. Healthy animals are more productive, efficient, require fewer veterinary interventions, and live a more enjoyable life. Improving their health has a huge knock-on effect on their productivity and impacts on the amount of emissions they produce. Being more productive results in a lower greenhouse gas intensity (emissions per kg of output).
The SG has introduced a “starter package” to encourage a review of the current health status of your farm’s herds or flocks. It will fund a maximum of 2 out of 9 animal health and welfare options. Click here to view the options.
Taking defined actionable advice, evidenced from your vet or farm adviser, is critical to be eligible for payments.
Online applications
The SG, as with the other devolved administrations, has an online platform for applications to the scheme. Click here to view tutorials about how to make claims and here to understand more about the PSF scheme.
How NRM can help
NRM, the UK’s leading agricultural analysis laboratory, offers all the soil testing required by the PSF, including carbon testing by LOI and Dumas. Talk to your local adviser or contact us to make an enquiry about our services.
References
https://www.gov.scot/policies/agriculture-payments/
Farming for a Better Climate – Farming for a Better Climate
Technical notes | SRUCPreparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org)
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