Scottish farmers are at risk of having the lowest agricultural payments in the European Union as a result of new reforms, the Environment Secretary has warned.
Richard Lochhead called for the UK Government to press for a better deal for Scotland in crucial negotiations over the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2014-2020.
The CAP provides a two-pillar system of support for farmers, with pillar one providing direct subsidies to EU producers and pillar two financing rural development programmes.
Addressing MSPs at Holyrood, Mr Lochhead said: "We cannot condemn Scotland's farmers to another decade of unfairly low CAP receipts. As I've said many times, Scotland has the fourth lowest payments per hectare in pillar one and the lowest in Europe in pillar two."
Mr Lochhead said there was "a real risk that after this reform, Scotland could have the lowest payments in Europe" in both pillars. He told MSPs: "The UK Government shouldn't allow that to happen - but our difficulty is that they are fixated on budget-cutting, not budget fairness."
"We need the UK Government to devote more of its negotiating capital to Scottish priorities. So I urge Parliament to join the Scottish Government in pressing the UK Government on the budget - and on Scotland's other priorities."
Reforms to the CAP are being decided, for the first time, by both the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. The European Parliament's agriculture committee will vote on their amendments next month while the Council of Ministers' Presidency will try to reach a partial agreement in areas where there is consensus. A summit will also be held next month to try to reach agreement on budget.
"It's no exaggeration to say that the future of thousands of farming businesses across Scotland and our nation's ability to produce food will be influenced by these decisions," said Mr Lochhead.
Labour's Claire Baker said: "The European Parliament and the Commission must hold their nerve and ensure that public interest is at the centre of the reform. This is attempting to get agreement between 27 member states on over 7,500 amendments. Each state is in there promoting their own interests.
"That is a reality that can threaten reform, but they must focus on what is in the best interests of us all: progress on the environment and biodiversity, sustainable farming balanced with food security, sustainable rural communities and multiple public and social gains."
