On the opening day of the Royal Highland Show, two of Scotland’s leading nature conservation charities have given the Scottish Government a failing grade in its efforts to support nature-friendly farming.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust and WWF Scotland have created an ‘Agriculture Report Card’ that evaluates the Government’s progress in delivering its own Vision for Agriculture, measured against its stated ambition for “Scotland to become a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture.” The findings expose a pattern of unfulfilled commitments and highlight a stark contrast between the Government’s rhetoric on transformative change and the reality.

The report card reveals the Government’s failure to meaningfully reform Direct Payments which continue to support farming practices that, according to the Scottish Government’s own assessment, deliver little to no positive environmental impact. It also underscores the stark imbalance in funding priorities: the Agri-Environment and Climate Scheme—vital for enabling farmers to adopt nature- and climate-friendly practices—is allocated a mere 5% of the agricultural budget, while a disproportionate 70% continues to be directed toward Direct Payments.

The report card illustrates how failure to meaningfully reform agricultural policy is limiting the Government’s ability to deliver against economic, climate, public service and child poverty objectives.

On the economy the report card points out that, amongst other things:

• Direct Payments are an outdated mode of support which do not go to the farmers and crofters most in economic need.
• Evidence shows Direct Payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy between 2014-2020 reduced innovation, development and growth.

On the climate, the report card points out that:

• Scotland will miss climate budgets without support for farmers to diversify their incomes towards agroforestry, woodland creation and peatland restoration.
• Scottish Government statistics show that between 2022-2023 agricultural emissions essentially remained constant at a level of 7.5 MtCO2e, falling marginally by 0.1%.

On public services and child poverty, the report card points out that:

• Flooding, drought and wildfires affect the whole of Scotland’s population, as does the decline of cherished species such as the Atlantic salmon.
• The economic impact of climate change places strain on public finance – with potential cuts to public spending disproportionately impacting those most in need.

Bruce Wilson, Head of Policy & Advocacy at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: “We need accelerated action for nature-friendly farming, but most of what we’re seeing is either glacial progress, stagnation or even backwards steps. Many Scottish farmers are committed to working in a sustainable way that will help Scotland achieve its targets for net zero and tackling biodiversity loss, but they need financial backing to do so.”

“Scotland’s ecosystems are the essential foundation of our agricultural sector. To ensure a sustainable future for farming, our policy and financial support systems must empower farmers to invest in the very asset that underpins long-term productivity and resilience—nature.”

“By breaking their promises on agriculture and nature restoration, the Government are limiting options for future generations in Scotland, and that includes our agriculture sector.”

Ruth Taylor, Agriculture and Land Use Policy Manager at WWF Scotland, said: “Over the course of this Parliament, the Scottish Government has repeatedly set out its ambition to make our farming sector a world-leader on climate and nature-friendly farming. Unfortunately, the actions they’ve taken to date fall far short of being worthy of this title, and we’ve seen few proposals to deliver the scale of transformation needed for that.”

The charities do not believe the Government’s actions have lived up to the ambitions set out within its Vision for Agriculture or the Biodiversity Strategy and go further to stress how failing to act on nature restoration will have a direct impact on the Government’s three key priorities: economy, climate, and public services and child poverty.

Read the full Agriculture Report Card on the eReader below, or click here to download as a PDF.