The Scottish Executive yesterday announced that it is dispatching some £40m to farmers eligible for payment under the less-favoured areas support scheme (LFASS).

This follows news that the vast majority of Scottish farmers have received single farm payments, well ahead of English counterparts.

Ross Finnie, rural development minister, commented: "LFASS is a crucial lifeline for over 13,000 farmers and crofters. This will greatly help the producers who rely on the traditional spring payments of LFASS to see them through a difficult time of the year when cash flows are limited.

"I have no doubt the £40m will contribute to ensuring the long-term viability of farming and crofting in Scotland."

The sum being paid out by the executive is a top-up on the £61m due under the 2006 LFASS regime. It had been assumed last year that because of changes in the European Commission's rural development regulations that payments would not be made until much later this year.

However, pressure from NFU Scotland, the National Sheep Association and the Scottish Beef Cattle Association, has persuaded the executive to make what is, in effect, an advance payment.

The original intention, as decreed by Brussels, was that all payments would be based on applications for the single farm payment, which must be submitted by May 15.

The £40m is not new money. In earlier times, the degree of support for hill cows and sheep was calculated on headage with added supplements for farmers in "severely disadvantaged areas".

However, following the 2003 reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy, eligibility was transferred to the area of land farmed. This change has led to a reduction of livestock numbers in north and west Scotland and on many islands.

Farmers and crofters know they will still receive LFASS payments, provided they meet the minimum stocking rates as laid out in the regulations. The future of support for the hills will come under scrutiny in Brussels, but the executive has pledged that there will be no major changes in Scotland, at least before late 2008.

Andy Robertson, chief executive of NFUS, said: "The £40m is a major relief for many as they were potentially facing a gap of 20 months between their 2006 and 2007 LFASS payments. That could have caused financial problems for many, especially with sheep prices currently being very unattractive.

"We are still in discussions with the executive over the exact detail and timing of the 2007 payments, which we are pressing to be made before the end of this year."