Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020: ex-post evaluation - annex A scheme summary report

15. Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme

Scheme description

The Young Farmers Start-Up Grant Scheme (YFSUGS), which started in 2015, provided access to capital grants for those who were starting an agricultural business for the first time or who were taking over an existing agricultural business. It was targeted at higher output farms and was age restricted.

To be eligible for support applicants had to: be aged between 16 and 41 years; be setting up as head of the holding of a new or existing farm business for the first time; have a suitable agricultural qualification - of at least National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 2 or equivalent - or be able to demonstrate a minimum of five years’ agricultural experience; and have registered their business with the SG.

The scheme was designed to help overcome barriers to entry and attract talented people to agriculture, and to address concerns related to growing ageing workforce and the lack of new entrants to the sector. It aimed to support more young people into the sector to improve economic output and promote the retention of young people in rural communities.

Capital grant funding could be used to help with the costs associated with starting up an agricultural business (for example, purchasing land, equipment, machinery or livestock, or constructing buildings).

Public expenditure

The YFSUGS was programmed to contribute to Priority 2 (Enhancing farm viability and competitiveness of all types of agriculture in all regions and promoting innovative farm technologies and the sustainable management of forests), and to FA 2B.

A summary of the public expenditure achieved by the YFSUGS is provided in Table 15.1. The scheme made its last payments to beneficiaries in 2021.

Source: Scottish Government, Annual Implementation Report 2023.

Performance indicators

A summary of the outcomes achieved by the YFSUGS is provided in Table 15.2.

Source: Scottish Government, Annual Implementation Report 2023.

There was one target indicator under FA 2B - the percentage of agriculture holdings that have been supported with business development plans/investment for young farmers. This support was delivered through the YFSUGS as well as on-going commitments from the 2007-2013 Programme made under the Rural Priorities (RP) scheme.

The AIR 2023 reports that:

• 265 young farmers received support during the Programme period – most were supported by the YFSUGS.
• this represents 0.51% of the total number of agriculture holdings against a target of 0.27% - the target indicator was exceeded .

Scheme evaluation

As noted at Chapter 13 (NESUGS), a joint evaluation of the NESUGS and YFSUGS (2022) was undertaken internally by RESAS. Please refer to that chapter for more detail on the study scope and methodology.

What worked well and/or less well

Please refer to Chapter 13.

Lessons learned

Please refer to Chapter 13.

Current status of the scheme

The SRDP supported YFSUGS closed to new applications in 2018.

The YFSUGS was not part of the transition programme as the budget was exhausted. A range of support for new entrants continues to be funded by SG. These largely focus on training, advice, knowledge transfer, freeing up public land, and a policy group governing these outputs and thinking creatively about existing and future new entrant support.