Fall In Farm Payment Euro Rate

29th September 2012

The exchange rate to be used for the 2012 Single Farm Payment Scheme is €1 = £0.7985, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

The exchange rate to be used was set on Friday by the European Central Bank and has fallen when compared with last year.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said:"The fall in the sterling / euro exchange rate is not unexpected given the continuing difficulties in financial markets. It is yet another reminder, if one was needed, that Scotland's farmers operate in an international context.

"I know that support payments are vital for many of our farmers and they will be eagerly anticipating the start of payments in December. We are working hard to ensure that farmers receive their payments as early as possible and farmers can help with this by responding promptly to any queries they may receive from Scottish Government officials."

All payments for direct aid schemes such as the Single Farm Payment and Scottish Beef Calf Schemes are set in euros. The conditions on how to convert these amounts into the national currencies of Member States that do not use the euro are set in EC Regulations.

The regulations allow the European Commission to set in advance the date on which the exchange rate is calculated. For the 2012 scheme year, the rate for all direct payments is calculated on the last working day of September.

The rate used in 2011 was £0.86665: the 2012 rate, therefore, represents a decrease of around 8 per cent.