The total lending from banks to Scottish agriculture over the past year has slowed down, according to statistics out this week.
Outstanding debts to Scottish farms rose by £22 million in the year to May 31 2018. Total outstanding lending to the agricultural sector amounted to £2.34 billion. Accounting for inflation, this was a decrease of 0.6 per cent since May 2017, according to results from a survey of the main banks and other lending institutions released by the Scottish Government’s Chief Statistician.
In addition to bank lending, farms have an estimated £1.2 billion of debt related to hire purchase, leasing and other sources, the statistics also showed.