Farming hit hard as Highlands and Isles' economy moves on
The importance of farming to the rural economy of the Highlands and Islands has dwindled, with tourism, education, health and local authorities now employing ten times as many people, according to a report.
The study found that most farms and crofts now depend on subsidies and non-agriculture income.
For many crofters the return from the land is worth less than £10,000 a year, much of it in support payments.
In the Western Isles as little as 16 per cent of earnings in crofting households can come from agriculture, says the report from the Aberdeen-based Macaulay Institute report.
However, it says while it is relatively unimportant in economic terms, agriculture still plays a vital role in landscape management and tourism.
The report was carried out for the Committee of Inquiry on Crofting.
Dr Richard Birnie, the lead author, said: "Our review shows that agriculture and forestry are no longer the cornerstones of the rural economy in terms of employment.
"In most areas there is immigration and the local economy is doing well because of wider demographics and lifestyle choices with people relocating to high amenity areas.
"In these areas, employment in tourism and the public sector are now up to ten-times higher than in agriculture or forestry."
But he said: "Although agriculture may be relatively unimportant from an economic perspective in many areas of the crofting counties, it is still the main means of landscape management. Much of the tourist industry is founded on the quality of the landscape, so will these rapid changes in agricultural land use have a significant knock-on effect on other sectors of the economy?"
There are more than 17,500 registered crofts and approximately 5,000 crofting townships across the counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Orkney, Ross and Cromarty, Shetland and Sutherland.
Since 2001 the net population has grown by 1.7 per cent in these areas, about double the Scottish average, with an associated increase in house prices.
