More than 17,400 active farmers and crofters have now received, or will soon have received, their convergence payments, according to the latest Scottish government announcement.
The distribution of the £86.2 million of convergence payments due in 2020 is now underway following the Scottish Government's announcement last Wednesday.
These initial convergence payments are the first tranche of a £160 million package the UK Government agreed to pay to rectify a ‘historic wrong' relating to EU Common Agricultural Policy funding that it failed to pass on to Scotland between 2014-18.
Further payment will be made in the coming weeks to ensure every eligible farmer and crofter, including new claimants in 2019 receives a payment by the end of March.
A cap of £55,000 has been applied to the Basic Payment element of individual entitlements.
Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, said: "Since successfully persuading the UK Government of the need to return this money to Scotland, I have been conscious of the need to adhere to the spirit and original premise of convergence by ensuring it goes to those who it was originally intended to support.
Our approach ensures that this vital funding gets to where it needs to be."
The distribution of the convergence money was the source of some dispute between Scottish Government and NFU Scotland but it is heavily biased towards those who farm in the uplands, hill farms and island areas.
About £52 million will be paid across Basic Payment Support regions and there is an additional £10 million to support the crofting areas.
Farm businesses have also started to receive 2019 Basic Payment Scheme funds.
This will be, in full, those who did not sign up to the BPS loan scheme last autumn.
Those 14,500 businesses which did sign up to the loan scheme will already have received 95 per cent of their BPS and the current tranche will be the 5 per cent balance.
