Farmers urged to apply for share of £100,000 flooding fund after record rainfall

Farming families seriously hit by the record breaking rainfall last weekend can now apply for funding to help recover from the damage.

The RSABI, who provide support to people in Scottish agriculture, is offering payments of up to £1,000 per family business for those who experienced significant loss in the extreme levels of rainfall.

The Flooding Fund, which totals £100,000, can be applied for online by those who meet the eligibility criteria and are able to provide details and evidence of damage and losses.

RSABI is also working with the team at Forage Aid to assess what demand there is for replacement bedding, feed and forage.

Over 50 flood warnings were in place from Friday, October 6 as the Met Office issued Amber weather warnings for heavy rain.

A further yellow warning for rain has been issued for parts of western Scotland for Tuesday.

At 6am on Monday, October 9, two severe flood warnings were still in place for parts of Perth and Aviemore.

Carol McLaren, chief executive of RSABI, said the charity had received reports of people who have sustained damage to property, vehicles and fencing.

She said: “The past week has been a very trying one for many farming families in the worst-hit parts of Scotland as they have been trying to recover from one of the greatest sustained periods of heavy rain for decades. We are launching this fund to show our support to those who have been significantly affected by the flooding.”

Ms McLaren said RSABI had been touched by the offers of donations and supplies of silage and straw from farmers in other parts of the country keen to support those who had sustained the greatest losses.

She said: “We have been moved by the support being offered by people in the agricultural community who are keen to help fellow farmers at this very difficult time for those affected. This tide of emotional support is very valuable in itself and we hope it will help to lift the spirits of those who have suffered loss in the past week.

“We would encourage anyone who has lost vital supplies needed to feed and bed livestock through the coming winter to please get in touch by emailing forageaid@rsabi.org.uk to allow us to assess the level of demand for a Forage Aid response.”

You can find further information and a link to the online form to apply for funding here.