Scotland’s latest rural support regulations tighten greening rules and tweak the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme following committee scrutiny and a December debate at Holyrood. The headline moves are a rise in Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) to 7% from 2027 and a longer claims window for beef producers. For farms trading through Longtown, Hexham and the Borders marts, the detail matters.

From 2027, arable businesses over 15 hectares will need to manage 7% of that land as EFA, up from 5%. Long‑standing exemptions are being removed, bringing more mixed and grass‑based farms into EFA management. Expect more hedges, margins and cover to be counted - and planned - rather than avoided under blanket exemptions.

The EFA toolkit expands. New options include low‑input grassland, herb‑ and legume‑rich pasture, unharvested crop and low‑density woodland planting. Farmers will also need to keep an EFA map on file and provide it on request, rather than attaching it to the Single Application Form. In practice, that means clearer field‑by‑field records.

On the ground, margins increase from 1 metre to 3 metres. The sowing deadline for green cover moves to 1 November, and the year‑end restriction goes - catch crops and green cover can be harvested before 31 December. Species lists for green cover and nitrogen‑fixing crops are widened, with published weighting tables for the new options.

For suckler producers, the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme claims window now runs to 14 January each year. From 1 January 2026 a small‑herd derogation applies: if you claim 10 calves or fewer in a scheme year, the 410‑day calving‑interval rule will not apply to those calves. The scheme is worth around £40 million to Scottish beef.

Crofting voices pushed hard for that change. The Scottish Crofting Federation welcomed what it called “a concession in relation to the 410‑day calving interval” for smaller herds, reflecting the realities of bull hire, ferries and weather.

Politics around the package was lively. Conservative MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston warned the greening rules “will have one hell of an impact on our island farmers and crofters, putting additional costs and burdens on them,” during the 10 December debate. Ministers, for their part, insisted the changes will work “for all rural Scotland.”

What does this mean up here? Scottish store cattle still flow through northern marts and into English finishing units; cashflow and timings matter. A later claims deadline helps with year‑end paperwork, while the 2026 rule tweaks give arable and mixed units on both sides of the line clearer choices on margins, cover and species mixes.

Dates to circle: the small‑herd derogation applies from 1 January 2026; the beef scheme claims window runs to 14 January; the 7% EFA threshold bites from 2027. For this season, check sowing dates, update field maps, and speak to your agent about which EFA options best fit your rotation.