New entrants and young farmers start-up grant schemes
- Evaluation
- Jobs, Growth and Equality in Rural Areas
- Agricultural Productivity
- Generational Renewal
- Evaluation
The study aims to evaluate the new entrants and young farmers start-up grant schemes as part of the Scottish 2014-2022 Rural Development Programme (RDP). Both schemes aimed to encourage new and young people into the farming sector and help retain people in rural communities.
- Other
- 2014-2022
- Socio-economic impacts

The study aims to evaluate the new entrants and young farmers start-up grant schemes as part of the Scottish 2014-2022 RDP.
The Young Farmers Start-Up Grant (YFSUG) and New Entrants Start-Up Grant (NESUG) fund farmers under 41 or early in their agricultural business development, respectively. The overarching goal of encouraging new and young people into the farming sector is to sustain the economic basis of farming and help to retain people in rural communities via the development of agricultural production on small or recently established agricultural businesses.
The approach used to learn more about the experience of new entrant farmers was based on a web-based survey. This was addressed to recipients of the two start-up grants. The survey received 67 responses, meaning 26% of the total population of grant recipients and, among those, the number of respondents was approximately distributed evenly between the two grants.
In addition to primary data collected through the survey, the evaluation was based on secondary descriptive data such as farm business income data, Scottish government and 'Farm Business Survey 2018-2019: profitability of Scottish farming, Scottish Government'.
No indication of any limitations is provided in the report.
The main conclusions of the study are:
- The schemes successfully supported 254 entrants into agriculture, fulfilling the NESUG goal of increasing the number of entrepreneurs who farm. However, it is less clear whether or not the schemes were successful in achieving the YFSUG goal of encouraging a new younger generation of farmers. While 205 of the 254 grants awarded were YFSUG, it can be said that the scheme successfully encouraged younger people to begin farming.
- While 254 grants were awarded, there are 50 231 holdings and approximately 20 000 farm businesses in Scotland. It is, therefore, difficult to argue that the overall age profile of farmers has shifted due to these schemes.
- Findings offer moderate evidence that prospective farmers struggle to obtain land and strong evidence that, when they do, they tend to struggle to make a profit. The schemes were, therefore, unsuccessful in their shared goals of encouraging entrepreneurs who farm to develop profitable, innovative businesses which can respond to the industry's changing economic environment.
- Systematic challenges of land availability and profitability make it unlikely that start-up schemes will be successful in their goals of encouraging new, younger entrepreneurs to build profitable and innovative farming businesses.
- The survey found that the availability of land remains a challenge for some entrants, although a requirement of the NESUG was that applicants must already have land. Over 65% of the respondents rented all or some of their land, and 39% had farmland that had previously been owned by a member of their family.
- The survey found that irrespective of land access, the enterprises in question faced considerable challenges related to productivity. Livestock was part of the primary enterprises of the sample (69% sheep and 62% cattle). Profitability was a challenge for 52% of the respondents, with 88% citing improving profitability as a high priority. Over half (51%) of the farms made an annual average income under £10 000. However, it is important to note that farms, in general, are rarely profitable without additional support from government payments and subsidies.
- The survey found that 42% of the sample did not agree that it was easy to access information about available funding and support. The majority (63%) had used farm advisory services. While 51% agreed that they found it easy to access appropriate training, 60% wanted more support for production going forward.
- This evaluation has not found evidence to support the continuation of the start-up grants as a method of encouraging generational renewal in the farming sector, based on the 2014-2020 RDP. Indeed, this iteration of the grants had limited scope to encourage meaningful change in the age composition of the farming sector within the timeframe of this evaluation, given the considerable constraints of land availability and profitability.
Author(s)
Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services (RESAS)
Resources
Documents
New entrants and young farmers start-up grant schemes
(PDF – 386.43 KB – 27 pages)