Business and Policy News Audio October 2026: Policy, cereal, beef, sheep and milk updates and a spotlight on Regenerative Agriculture.

The first tranche of support payments have been made to farmers who applied for support under the Basic Payment Scheme during mid-September, as the Scottish Government seeks to maintain its pledge to get support payments out to farmers at the earliest opportunity.

This month's policy brief section contains an update on the latest Agricultural Prices Index, which clearly shows that input costs have increased faster than output prices since April 2026.

With farm input prices continuing to rise rapidly, the early receipt of the BPS payment is crucial to farm business cash flows.

It's that time of year when many farmers are thinking about submitting applications for other forms of support, whether it's the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme, open to applications between the 1st of September and the 30th of November, or the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme, open to applications between 15th January 2026 to 14th January 2027.

If you are eligible for either scheme, please don't delay.

Get the application submitted at the earliest opportunity.

During September, Scottish Government wrote to farmers to provide some clarification on the future requirements for agricultural support.

In addition to the changes relating to enhanced greening, which were also highlighted within our September edition of Business Policy News, Scottish Government has confirmed that everyone applying for support under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2027 must complete at least two of the five whole farm plan criteria by 15th of May, 2027.

This is no change from the requirement in 2026.

However, it does mean that all remaining whole farm plan audits and plans that are relevant to your business will need to be completed by 15th of May, 2028.

With the carbon audit, soil analysis, and the biodiversity audit all valid for five years from the date of completion, it makes sense to get some of these options completed this year if they're not currently in place.

This will ensure the workload is reduced when 2028 comes around.

Pickstock Abattoir in Dumfriesshire.

During September, work started on the construction of a proposed new abattoir near Ekelfecken in Dumfriesshire.

The site marks the vocation for a new £24 million development by Pickstock Telford, which is being supported by a £4.7 million investment from South of Scotland Enterprise.

Besides the creation of new jobs for the area, the new development will bring more competition into the beef processing sector and will also help to reduce transport costs for farmers in the region.

The site is expected to be fully operational by early 2029.

Inflation is rising.

Will the MPC increase the base rate in November? The latest figures show that inflation has increased to 3.1%, up 0.2% from last month.

On the 17th of September, the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, voted to hold the base rate at 3.75%.

However, with inflation currently running at 3.1% and further increases to inflation predicted, there will be increasing pressure for the MPC to vote in favor of increasing the base rate at the next MPC meeting on the 5th of November.

The Bank of England has acknowledged that inflation will rise above its current level of 3.1% as the conflict in the Middle East continues, sustaining high fuel and energy prices around the world.

The Bank of England further acknowledges that whilst energy prices remain high, there is increased risk of price and wage rises.

Whilst the autumn budget on the 28th of October may well include some additional targeted measures to help curb inflation in specific parts of the economy, the continuing upward trend of fuel and energy prices suggest a rate rise is increasingly likely.

At the time of writing, Brent crude oil is currently trading at $103 per barrel, up from around $66 per barrel at the beginning of the year.