The Farmers' Union of Wales Grand Council, comprising of leading members from all the union's 13 county branches, has urged Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones to have a "complete rethink" of the Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) controversial Glastir land management scheme.
At a quarterly meeting of the Grand Council in Aberystwyth, delegates passed a resolution calling for a complete rethink of the scheme and demanded WAG to deliver an easily accessible and simpler scheme, with project officer support, that is attractive to farmers and landowners.
Chairman of the FUW's land use and parliamentary committee Richard Vaughan, of Pall Mall, Tywyn, who proposed the motion, said the scheme should include support for capital works at entry level, take into account the importance of common land in Wales, and review the necessity of establishing grazing associations to implement the scheme.
Mr Vaughan added: "The current Tir Mynydd scheme's objective is to support and maintain livestock production in the less productive farming areas of Wales in order to avoid land abandonment and rural depopulation. Therefore, if Glastir is not made accessible and simpler it could have severe consequences for Welsh communities and environments especially in Wales's uplands.
"Glastir represents a seed change for farmers in Wales and it's high time that the Assembly realised that farmers need time to adapt and to be given more details about the scheme so that they can make the right business decisions."
Seconding the motion, FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Robert W Evans, of Sylfaen, Barmouth, said due to the scarcity of firm details about the current scheme making a decision on whether to sign up was like going into a restaurant without knowing what's on the menu.