Small farmers, farmworkers and crofters are to hold a rally at the Scottish Parliament on October 25, championing those who work the land and smaller-scale producers.

The event will hear speeches from some of those producers, offer local food tasters, and discuss how the upcoming Agriculture bill can best support small farms and crofts. Leading the rally at the capital will be the Land Workers’ Alliance, followed by the Scottish Crofting Federation, Soil Association Scotland, Nature Friendly Farming Network and The South West Regenerative Farmers Network.

Organising the day of action is Tara Wight, policy and campaign co-ordinator for the Land Workers’ Alliance in Scotland. She said: “We want to bring together the community of small farmers, workers and crofters to call on the Scottish Government to bring these people into the Agricultural bill consultation – we need the rural perspective and experience at the heart of it.

"Investing in the smaller scale is investing in Scotland’s rural life," said Ms Wight. "One of the key ways land workers could be better supported is within the conditionality payments which do not cover social requirements such as workers' rights. We want to see workers rights within the reform which is already happening in Europe.

"On the day we will be meeting politicians, inviting them to share our food and discuss our policy asks and hear from small scale producers and workers.”

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Chief executive of the Crofters Federation, Patrick Krause, said: “Between our organisations, we represent and work with much of Scotland’s agro-ecological food producing community. Globally, it is well recognised that small-scale agriculture plays a key role in society.

"The European Parliament and several UN Special Rapporteurs agree that small scale producers are both of great environmental and community value, including the potential of job opportunities and the fact that many small-scale units may and can be more productive than large farms when productivity is calculated per hectare rather than per worker.

"Most of Scotland’s High Nature Value areas are found within crofting areas, where the number of people using the land for food production is much higher. Yet, in Scotland, there has been little recognition of the crucial value of small farms and crofts, and this is showing in the agricultural support system. It needs to change.”

The event is to be held one week before NFU Scotland is holding its own rally at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, November 2.