Economic conditions of crofting: survey 2019 to 2022

6. Sources of information on crofting

6.1. Summary of key points

• In terms of awareness of various sources of advice and support, crofters were most likely to be aware of the Crofting Commission, Commissioner or local Crofting Commission Assessor (75%). 54% were aware of Rural Payments and Inspections Division Offices, 51% were aware of the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme, and 50% were aware of the Scottish Rural Development Programme website.
• The Crofting Commission, Commissioner or local Crofting Commission Assessor was the source that crofters were most likely to use for advice and support on crofting activities (60%).
• An advice line was the most common feature that crofters would like to see available on the Farm Advisory Service (FAS) website.

Base: Aware of, n=823; Would use, n=735

Crofters were asked about the sources of advice and support they were aware of regarding crofting activities.

From a list of support sources, crofters were asked to indicate which they were aware of. As shown in Figure 6.1, three quarters of respondents were aware of the Crofting Commission, Commissioner or local Crofting Commission Assessor (75%), while 54% were aware of Rural Payments and Inspections Division Offices, 51% were aware of the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme and 50% were aware of the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) website. 30% were aware of the Farm Advisory Service (FAS).

Those who had been crofting for over 20 years were twice as likely (23%) to be aware of the Crofting Cattle Improvement Scheme than those who had been crofting for less than three years (10%). The general awareness of support sources decreased with age, for example 63% of crofters aged 16-44 were aware of the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS) compared to 41% of crofters aged 65 and over.

In terms of the sources that crofters would use for advice and support on crofting activities, the Crofting Commission, Commissioner or local Crofting Commission Assessor was again the top response (60%), followed by Rural Payments and Inspections Division offices (42%), the SRDP website (39%) or family and friends (39%). Those who had been crofting for less than three years were more likely to use all sources of advice and support. Generally, respondents aged 65 and over were less likely to use sources of advice and support. For example, 31% of those aged 65 and over would use the SRDP website compared to 47% of respondents aged 55-64. Respondents aged 16-44 were more than twice as likely to turn to family and friends for support and advice (57%) than those aged 65 and over (28%).

30% of crofters had looked for advice or support on crofting activities in the last 12 months, which is consistent with the 2018 report (33%).

Crofters aged under 45 were most likely to have looked for advice or support (47%), while those aged 65 and over were least likely (17%). Furthermore, those who were newer to crofting were more likely to have looked for advice and support (51%). Those who had been crofting for 10-20 years (26%) or more than 20 years (24%) were least likely to have looked for information or support.

6.3. The Farm Advisory Service (FAS)

Respondents were asked to select from a list of options what they would like to see on the FAS website. An advice line was the most common response (34%) and this was followed by technical notes (28%) and videos (28%). Just under half of crofters (47%) said they would be unlikely to look at this website.

Respondents aged 65 and over were more likely to say they would not look at the FAS website (61%). On the other hand, podcasts were more popular with those aged under 45 (26%).

Base: respondents, n=263