Scottish Ministers have signed off changes to ecological focus areas (EFAs) and the Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (SSBSS). Most provisions take effect at the end of December 2025, with a targeted tweak for small suckler herds from 1 January 2026. The headline shift lifts the EFA requirement from 5% in 2026 to 7% from 2027. Four new EFA options are added and businesses must keep EFA maps, though these no longer travel with the Single Application Form. Field margins widen to 3 metres, sowing dates are adjusted, and previous year‑end harvesting restrictions for catch crops and green cover are removed. The SSBSS claim window moves to 14 January.

The EFA uplift is material for arable and mixed units. Exemptions that previously spared holdings with more than 75% grasses or permanent grassland are removed, bringing more businesses into scope. In practice, managers should plan for 5% EFA next season and budget for the 7% step‑up from 1 January 2027.

Choice widens alongside the obligation. New qualifying options include low‑input grassland, herb and legume‑rich pasture, unharvested crop and low‑density woodland planting. These sit alongside existing choices and, with conversion/weighting factors applied, give growers more ways to meet the percentage while keeping agronomic value in the rotation.

Administrative effort changes shape rather than disappearing. Farmers must prepare and keep an EFA map that shows the location and size of declared areas and provide it on request; it no longer needs to be submitted with the application. That means mapping accuracy and version control matter, especially ahead of inspections.

Several operational tweaks will be felt in the field. Minimum margins move from 1 metre to 3 metres; additional species are allowed for green cover and nitrogen‑fixing mixes; green cover must be sown by 1 November; and the ban on harvesting catch crops or green cover before 31 December goes. These adjustments aim to make compliance easier to achieve without freezing working capital at year‑end.

Cash flow is the near‑term story. Being able to lift and sell a cover or catch crop in December can release cash before the books close, while the wider margin requirement reduces cropped area at the edges. The net effect depends on your mix: businesses that use new EFA options with seed already on farm may offset the opportunity cost of extra set‑aside with reduced input spend and better soil cover.

For suckler producers, two changes stand out. First, the SSBSS application deadline moves to 14 January following the claim year, giving extra days to finalise paperwork after the festive period. Second, from 1 January 2026, herds claiming ten calves or fewer get a derogation from the calving‑interval conditionality introduced for 2025; all other eligibility rules still apply.

On scheduling, the extended window helps tidy up late‑December calvings and tagging records without risking a missed deadline. It does not change which animals qualify for a given scheme year, so producers should still check birth dates against scheme guidance before submitting claims. The official guidance stresses that eligibility criteria are unchanged despite the later cut‑off.

A simple way to frame the land take: on a 200‑hectare arable unit, the EFA requirement is 10 hectares at 5% but rises to 14 hectares at 7% in 2027. If some of that is met with low‑input grassland or legume‑rich pasture, the agronomic return can partly compensate for reduced cropped hectares, but managers should still re‑run gross margins and labour plans for headlands and non‑productive strips.

What to do now is straightforward: update field maps and software so EFA features are clearly measured; confirm seed availability for permitted cover and legume mixes; revisit rotation plans to capture value from the new options; and add the 14 January SSBSS deadline to team calendars. With the percentage rising in 2027, building the extra 2% into 2026 cropping and cash flow forecasts avoids a hard adjustment later.