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ITV News
15-07-2025
- Politics
- ITV News
What does the new subsidy mean for Welsh farmers?
The Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies MS, who has responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, has outlined the new Sustainable Farming Scheme today. What is the Scheme? The Sustainable Farming Scheme is said to be The Welsh Government's way to support farmers, land management and sustainable food production from 2026 onwards. It will pay farmers for actions resulting in environmental, animal welfare and social outcomes above the legal requirements. To be eligible, farmers will be required to manage at least 10% of their farm as habitat. Farmers will be required to carry out 'universal actions' for which they would receive the 'universal baseline payment'. 'Optional' and 'collaborative' actions can be done for additional payments. Farmers can chose to join the scheme but must undertake all 'universal actions' and have sole control of the land to receive the money. There are 12 'universal actions', which include soil health, habitat maintenance and tree and hedgerow planting opportunities. Why is it controversial? Last year thousands of farmers protested outside the Senedd as a result of the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme. The backlash is based on the fact farmers will have to meet strict environmental targets in return for government funding. There are fears it won't work for all farmers due to complications around land ownership and rights to land. The National Farmers Union in Wales says that the scheme must work for every farm in Wales. Aled Jones, President of NFU Cymru, says that agriculture is the bedrock for Wales' food and drinks sector. "NFU Cymru has long been clear that the Sustainable Farming Scheme must provide at least the same level of stability to farm businesses, rural communities and the supply chain as the Basic Payment Scheme does currently. "In March 2024, NFU Cymru placed 5,500 pairs of wellies on the steps of the Senedd, a deeply moving and poignant depiction of the potential job losses on farm forecast by an impact assessment of a previous version of the Sustainable Farming Scheme. "It is imperative that the revised scheme and budget attached to the SFS, which is expected to be published this week, avoids such a shocking impact on one of Wales' iconic sectors. The SFS must work for all farming sectors and areas of Wales and help ensure that Welsh farming can continue to underpin the £9.3 billion food and farming supply chain." When will the Scheme come into play? From 2026 you will have the choice to enter the Sustainable Farming Scheme or remain with the Basic Payment Scheme which will be phased out by 2029. The current scheme that farmers receive funding from will be worth just 60% of its current value. That means that if farmers want to receive more money from the Welsh Government, they will have to sign up to the Sustainable Farming Scheme next year. What the Welsh Government hope it will achieve? " Our ambition is to see a thriving and confident agriculture sector in Wales, that is built around innovation and growth." "Supports farmers in Wales to produce world class, high-quality, food whilst caring for the environment, tackling and adapting to climate change and building resilience for those who will work and care for this precious land in the years to come."
Powys County Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Powys County Times
New Sustainable Farming Scheme 'a generational milestone'
The new Sustainable Farming Scheme represents a 'generational milestone' for farmers, a union has said. The scheme will see new requirements for farmers which look to improve biodiversity across the country and will see the rapid phasing out of the current Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). According to the Welsh Government, farmers in Sustainable Farming Scheme will need to have 'at least 10 per cent of their land actively managed as habitat, to benefit biodiversity and support nature recovery alongside food production'. The current basic payment scheme will be phased out being reduced to 60 per cent in 2026 and reduced by 20 per cent per year thereafter. NFU Cymru criticised this aspect as initially it was though that it would initially only drop to 80 per cent. It labelled the change a 'cliff edge' approach which has affected many farmers' forward planning. What the Sustainable Farming Scheme says: An annual Universal Payment will go to farmers joining the Scheme who follow the Scheme Requirements including a set of Universal Actions. The Scheme has been made less complex with fewer administrative requirements. The number of Universal Actions has been cut and built on the processes and systems of Rural Payments Wales (RPW). The combination of the Universal, Optional and Collaborative layers is intended to give stability through the Universal layer, and additional support to those who want to do more through Optional and Collaborative Actions. All farmers entering the Scheme will need to complete an opportunity plan for woodland and hedgerow creation in the first year of entry into the Scheme. They must demonstrate progress towards their plan by the end of the 2028 scheme year. Support will be provided for tree and hedgerow planting in the Optional Layer, including for agroforestry, and there will be a higher payment rate for tree planting during the first three years of the scheme. Farmers are not expected to plant trees on their most productive land – they will decide where to plant, with advice and guidance on putting the right trees in the right places. Farmers in the Scheme will need to have at least 10% of their land actively managed as habitat, to benefit biodiversity and support nature recovery alongside food production. A range of temporary habitat options are available to choose from if farmers need to do more to meet the 10% requirement. By the time of the Royal Welsh Show a simple ready reckoner will be available on the Welsh Government website. Union response FUW President Ian Rickman said: "During the past year alone, we have attended in excess of 60 meetings with the Welsh Government totalling over 300 hours of negotiations. I can assure FUW members and the wider agricultural community that we have left no stone unturned over the past seven years in our ambition to secure a viable post-Brexit farm support framework. "The Scheme published today represents this prolonged period of negotiation, marking a generational milestone for the future of Welsh agriculture.' He added: "We accept that the Scheme is not perfect. The 10% habitat Scheme Rule will be a concern for many as will the management requirements that will apply on those areas despite these being less prescriptive than previous agri-environment schemes. "We also appreciate there will be concerns raised around the Scheme-level ambition to plant 17,000 hectares of trees by 2030, the potential year-to-year fluidity of the payment rates and the shorter BPS transition, which will now fall to 60% in 2026 and reduce by 20% per year thereafter. "We have been consistent in our calls for the BPS transition to follow five equal reductions starting at 80% in 2026 as was initially proposed by the Welsh Government. "FUW members can be assured that the Union made its position absolutely clear on these areas throughout the negotiations. I am confident that the Union has done everything in its power to represent you and your businesses throughout this process. "This Scheme will be different to what we have historically considered as direct farm support or subsidies. I therefore urge all Welsh farmers to consider the Scheme requirements and payment rates in the context of your own businesses.' Cliff edge in 2026 NFU Cymru hit out at a "cliff edge" in 2026 which will see basic payments cut to 60 per cent in 2026 for those opting against entering the new scheme, having previously understood it would first fall to 80 per cent. Union president Aled Jones said: "Farming businesses have forward planned on this basis. 'This development is even more of a blow given significant guidance and technical detail is yet to be published which farmers need if they are to make informed decisions about whether to enter the scheme from January 1, 2026. "With harvest well underway and next year's cropping and livestock purchases already in motion, many farmers will not be able to pivot their business to join the new scheme from January. "Farming families are also grappling with difficult conversations and decisions on how to restructure their businesses to address the changes being forced upon them by the introduction of the UK Government's family farm tax from April 2026. With Welsh Government now slashing the first year of the tapered transition from the BPS, many will feel they are now stuck between a rock and a hard place.'
South Wales Guardian
15-07-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
New payment scheme for farmers unveiled amid industry doubts
The plan has been seven years in the making and has been the subject of widespread protests by farmers during the consultation stages. The SFS will replace EU-era subsidies, which farmers had received for decades based largely on how much land they had. Most rely on these payments - an average of 67% of Welsh farm income - came from subsidies in 2020-21. The SFS aims to reward farmers and land managers for 'public good' practices such as like wildlife habitat and soaking up carbon in the land. Wildlife groups warned the new plan fell "far short" of helping farmers to successfully tackle climate change and nature loss. For their initial 'universal' payment, farmers will have to agree to carry out 12 actions ranging from soil health planning and habitat maintenance, to online courses to enhance knowledge and skills related to sustainable farming. There will also be funding to recognise "social value" - something farmers had called for - and which aims to recognise what are described as the wider benefits that sustainable agriculture provides to society, from food production to sustaining rural communities. An extra £1,000 will go to smaller farms in 2026 as a one-off stability payment to acknowledge the uncertain period of transition. A further optional layer of the scheme is intended to top up farm incomes for further environmental work, including woodland creation, improved public access to the countryside and support to go organic. A collaborative payment will also be available in future to support farmers working together on landscape-scale projects. The Welsh Government has said it will commit £238m in 2026 for the universal payments - equivalent to the current, main subsidy farms receive, known as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). 'Significant' funding for optional and collaborative work is also promised - with an overall budget similar to the £340m currently designated to farming. But farming unions and environmental groups alike said far more was required - closer to £500m, to account for rising costs in agriculture and the scale of what was now being asked of farmers to deliver. The Welsh Government said its plans will support food production and address environmental concerns A requirement for 10% tree cover has ben dropped. Instead the government said it was asking farmers to plant at least 0.1 hectares - or 250 trees by the end of 2028. There would be "generous support for tree and hedgerow planting" in the optional layer, including a higher payment rate for tree planting during the first three years of the scheme. The government is also targeting 1,500km (932 miles) of hedgerow extension by 2030, with an aspiration of achieving 2,000km (1,243 miles). NFU Cymru said the Welsh Government's decision to slash the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) by 40% for 2026 overshadows much of the positive work undertaken to improve the new Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS). NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: 'This unwelcome decision by Welsh Government is extremely worrying for farmers in Wales who had previously been informed that those opting not to enter the new Sustainable Farming Scheme in 2026 would receive 80% of their BPS. Farming businesses have forward planned on this basis. 'This development is even more of a blow given significant guidance and technical detail is yet to be published which farmers need if they are to make informed decisions about whether to enter the scheme from 1st January 2026.' He also argued that '… the level of detail, constraints, administration, costs and bureaucracy attached to the SFS is significant and far greater than anything seen before. We remain deeply worried about the burden this scheme will place on a sector low in confidence and already dealing with a mountain of red tape.' Farmers Union of Wales President Ian Rickman the scheme marked a generational milestone for the future of Welsh agriculture.' 'To highlight some of the key successes, we have secured a total budget for the Universal Baseline Payment and BPS taper combined of £238 million, providing workable payment rates and much needed stability for the sector,' he said. 'This includes the provision of universal payments for common land rights holders. 'We have retained and strengthened the application of capped and redistributive payments, a longstanding policy position for the FUW and one that maximises the amount of money going to typical Welsh family farms and rural communities.'
BBC News
13-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Wales' news Sustainable Farming Scheme absolutely right, minister says
A new flagship farming policy is "absolutely the right scheme", according to Wales' agriculture ahead of its launch, Huw Irranca-Davies said he was "hopeful it will land to a good reception", even though he conceded "there will be the odd person" who wished it had been done second iteration of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and the rate of payment farmers can expect for joining it is due to be announced next week, after unions and farmers rejected the original scheme, staging plans included a requirement for farmers to plant trees on 10% of their land to qualify for subsidies, but they claimed that could lead to huge job cuts. Farming union NFU Cymru want "at least the same level of stability to farm business, rural communities and supply chains" as the current scheme, known as the Basic Payment Welsh government has been holding roundtable discussions with farming leaders, as well as environmental and nature campaigners, to revise the plan which it hopes will make farming businesses sustainable and help to reach its 2030 climate and nature targets. Irranca-Davies, Wales' deputy first minister and secretary for rural affairs and the environment, said the final scheme was "the result of more than 12 months of intense work" involving farming unions, meat, livestock and dairy sectors as well as environmental groups "to get the balance".Although he would not give any detail about the scheme, he told BBC Politics Wales it was "going to be unlike anything else that's been delivered in the UK"."It'll be a whole farm approach and a whole nation approach that delivers for the people of Wales," he said."They want to see farming that produces good food to high animal welfare standards and also does the right thing for the environment."The minister would not commit to publishing an impact assessment of the final iteration as he said work was assessment of the first iteration of the scheme predicted 5,500 jobs would be lost and livestock numbers would be the government is also under pressure from environmentalists to ensure that the plan is 80% of Wales' landscape is under the care of farmers, it is also argued they have a key role to play in helping the effort to tackle climate change and the losses in nature. NFU Cymru president Aled Jones said it was "imperative that the revised scheme and budget attached to the SFS avoids such a shocking impact on one of Wales' iconic sectors". "The SFS must work for all farming sectors and areas of Wales and help ensure that Welsh farming can continue to underpin the £9.3bn food and farming supply chain," he about the impact assessment, Irranca-Davies said his "feeling was that it'll be better" for both "viable farm businesses and environmental benefits as well".Again refusing to pre-empt the announcement, he said there would be mitigations in order to ensure those in agriculture would not be left behind as Wales moves towards a greener economy with "real subtleties" within the scheme that would be Cymru's Delyth Jewell MS said: "I think there has been frustrations for a long time that lots of people in the farming community feel they haven't been heard. "We have to make sure - these are people who sustain our lives - we need to make sure their lives are made sustainable too."Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar MS said he wanted to see the policy voted on by politicians to ensure "democratic legitimacy" for the plan."We've got to make sure that the new scheme has food security at its heart, and that it will actually deliver the sustainable future for our farmers that they need," he said.
Powys County Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Powys County Times
Calls for a moratorium on Powys council owned farm sales
Farming unions have urged Powys County Councillors to back calls for a moratorium on the sale of council farms. NFU Cymru and the Farmers' Union of Wales are supporting calls from a Powys pressure group seeking a pause on the sale of local authority-run farms. It follows a well-attended public meeting in Sarn, near Newtown in May, where council farm tenants voiced concerns over the future of holdings. Powys County Council is expected to hold a meeting next week to discuss the issue. 'These families have often invested their lives and livelihoods into these holdings, and the lack of clear, long-term strategy from the council undermines their dedication and commitment to Welsh agriculture. 'We urge the council to safeguard these vital farms and their tenants for future generations." NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor County Adviser Stella Owen said: 'Council farm tenancies play a pivotal role in enabling new entrants and young farming families to take their first steps into farming. 'While we understand that council farm estates will change and evolve over time, it's crucial that this avenue remains open and any contraction of a council farm estate would naturally be of great concern.'
