The Farmers’ Union of Wales’ response to the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme: “Keeping farmers farming” consultation has highlighted the concerning amount of change that is required to make sure the scheme is fit for purpose within the time available.

Following a protest by thousands of farmers and staff from associated businesses on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff Bay last week (28 February), the Senedd proceeded to debate and vote down two motions on policies relating to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and bovine TB.

The Welsh Conservatives motion called on the Welsh Government to scrap the current sustainable farming scheme proposals and to re-engage with the farming sector to develop a new scheme that has the support of the farming community.

The lack of consideration of tenant farmers and proper support for new entrants were just some of the key concerns expressed by the Presidential Policy Team of the Farmers’ Union of Wales during a meeting held recently at Builth Wells.

It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about Single Application Forms (SAF). The application window opens on March 4th and the FUW is reminding its members that county staff are here to help and ready to take the stress of filling the form away.

The FUW provides this service as part of the membership package, which has proved invaluable for thousands of members over the years - saving them time and a paperwork-headache. 

During emergency talks held today (19 January) with Minister for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, and her officials, the Farmers’ Union of Wales called for a rethink of the proposals through genuine co-design.

Speaking immediately after the meeting, FUW President Ian Rickman said: “As farmers, we understand the current strength of feeling and frustration of our members. We expressed these deep concerns and the resentment felt by our members and the wider rural community to the Minister in no uncertain terms today.

“We have called for an independent assessment to take place on the socio-economic impact and bureaucratic burden of Welsh Government agricultural policies, to include the SFS, bovine TB and the Control of Agricultural Pollution ‘NVZ’ regulations.

“This time must also be used for a series of regular meetings involving the Minister for Rural Affairs and her officials with both farming unions to rethink the proposals through genuine co-design. This needs to include an independent panel tasked with looking at alternatives to tree planting so we can work towards net zero in a more sustainable way,” he said.

The FUW has long maintained that the SFS must be accessible for all active farming businesses, and provide long-term stability for such businesses and the wider rural economy that relies upon agriculture. It also needs to provide a meaningful income stream which properly rewards farmers by going beyond costs incurred and income foregone and underpins the importance of a high quality food supply chain in Wales.

“From what we can see, the SFS in its current form will not be sustainable and is clearly not ready, and the Minister repeated her assurances that it wouldn’t be launched until it is.

“The continuation of the Basic Payment Scheme at current rates, until we are confident the SFS is ready, must therefore be considered. Otherwise we risk a repeat of the situation in England with basic payments disappearing and the vast majority of funding available only through the adoption of environmental schemes and actions.

“We welcome the constructive meeting with the Minister and her officials at such a critical time for the industry. However, the ball is now firmly in their court and we sincerely hope they take our requests seriously.

“Finally, I still cannot overstate how important it is for every individual and business that will be affected by these proposals to formally respond to this consultation by the 7th of March. It remains absolutely crucial that we all do so in order to have as great an impact as possible,” added Mr Rickman.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) says that the Scottish Government’s confirmation that direct farm support will continue in Scotland highlights the fundamental flaws inherent in Wales’ Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) proposals.

Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf told NFU Scotland's spring conference on Friday (9th February) that 70% of future support will constitute direct farm payments to support food producers. The remaining 30% will be targeted at environmental measures, a ratio similar to current Scottish arrangements.

“By comparison, the Welsh Government’s proposed SFS, due to be introduced next year, would bring direct farm payments to an end completely while introducing a mountain of costly restrictions and requirements,” said FUW President, Ian Rickman.

“This would mean Welsh farmers competing at a huge disadvantage compared to our counterparts in Scotland, despite both our countries having a similar proportion of disadvantaged land where only livestock farming is possible.”

Around 85% of Scotland is classified as Less Favoured, while the proportion in Wales is 80%. In England it is just 17%.

Mr Yousaf also confirmed that a form of Less Favoured Areas support, which was abandoned in Wales in 2013, would continue in Scotland.

“The Welsh Government’s economic analysis published alongside their SFS consultation paper suggests all the rules and restrictions would lead to an 11% reduction in livestock numbers. It would also see a fall in average Welsh farm incomes of between 25 and 35 percent. This figure would rise to between 48% and 85% in the absence of possible ‘top-up’ payments,” said Mr Rickman.

“Now that we have left the EU, the UK effectively has its own single market but without the common payment rules. If Wales diverges from Scotland in the way proposed by Welsh Government, we would not only be disadvantaging our own farmers by introducing a mountain of rules not present for EU producers, but would also be placing our own industry at a huge competitive disadvantage compared to Scotland and handing business to the Scotts on a plate,” said Mr Rickman.

The FUW was a principled opponent of Brexit and after the vote to leave in 2016, argued for a robust replacement for the Common Agricultural Policy that minimised such unfair competition between UK nations. This was apparent in our comprehensive Filling the Void paper published in July 2018.

“This very sensible and economically advantageous move by the Scottish Government needs to be reflected by the Welsh Government when it considers the vast number of improvements that must be made to its current SFS proposals. What is proposed at present is destructive and economically naive, and would be a massive own goal for Wales’ farms, society, culture and economy.

“As we predicted, Brexit has failed Welsh farmers on many levels and the Welsh Government’s plans would merely add to the challenges we have faced since 2016,” he added.