Crofting Matters - Starting up in Crofting

Episode 149 of the Scotland's Farm Advisory Service Podcast podcast, hosted by Scotland's Farm Advisory Service Podcast, titled "Crofting Matters - Starting up in Crofting" was published on September 24, 2025 and runs 36 minutes.

September 24, 2025 ·36m · Scotland's Farm Advisory Service Podcast

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Episode Description

Welcome back to Crofting Matters. On today’s episode, Siobhan is joined by Graham Fraser (SAC Lerwick) to discuss an often asked question – how to start up a croft, smallholding or farming business.

The Farm Advisory Service has an Advice Line – free to call or email for advice. Every year the team receives lots of questions about starting up a farming business. It can be tricky to get a croft, but tenancies and purchases do come up so if you are looking for an opportunity, then this will help you understand the process when it happens.

Graham and Siobhan talk about setting up an agricultural business with particular emphasis on crofting and chat through some of the questions they have received through the advice line.

Timestamps:

01.07 Starting up in crofting – things to consider

03.09 Owner occupier, tenancy and assignation explained

05.14 Land that goes with a croft

08.39 Common grazing shares

10.05 The 3 duties of a crofter

12.39 Common grazing responsibilities

13.45 Subsidies and grants that a new crofter could be eligible for

18.13 Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF)

19.33 Applying for BPS (Basic payment Scheme) & LFASS (Less Favoured Area Support Scheme)

20.31 Getting a BRN (Business Refence Number)

27.36 Numbers of livestock on a common grazing

29.23 Keeping livestock for the first time

30.56 Getting your own flock/herd number

33.01 Getting registered and set up – the order of events

FAS Resources

FAS - New Entrants -Getting Started

FAS Introduction to crofting - Gaelic

FAS -Introduction to crofting - English

Other Resources

Highlands and Islands Enterprise(business support)

Scottish Enterprise(business support)

CroftingRegister

Welcome| Crofting Commission

RuralPayments and Services

Animaland Plant Health Agency - GOV.UK

Preparingfor Sustainable Farming

For more information, visit www.FAS.scot

Facebook: @FASScot

National Advice Hub

Phone: 0300 323 0161

Email: [email protected]

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