Many will be aware that Welsh Government published a consultation entitled Sustainable Farming and our Land: Simplifying Agricultural Support on 31st July. This latest consultation is not a one hundred page plus MK III edition of the 2018 Brexit and our Land and 2019 Sustainable Farming and our Land consultations on shaping a Sustainable Farming Scheme based on the principles of ‘public money’ for ‘public goods’. However, do not be fooled by it’s subtle heading.
Schedule 5 to the UK Agricultural Bill includes powers for the Welsh Ministers to amend and extend retained direct EU legislation and modify legislation relating to the Rural Development Programme (RDP). Welsh Government is proposing to continue with the existing CAP regulatory framework until new agricultural support schemes are available - probably after 2023 - while making some changes that are in some areas relatively minor, and in others significant - particularly with regard to Pillar 2 and the principles which underpin the RDP.
The first half of the consultation document - up to question seventeen - sets out eleven proposals for making adjustments to the current Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) from the 2021 scheme year until the new Sustainable Farming Scheme is developed and implemented. Despite the consultation document providing for an ‘easy’ read, many of these proposals such as setting the BPS ceiling annually, separate cross-border payments, changes to requirements for late supporting documents and the abolishment of Greening rules and the Young Farmer Scheme raise important questions and concerns which must be considered and addressed before any changes are made before the end of the year.
The second half of the document - arguably the most important - sets out proposals to rewrite the objectives and priorities of the RDP to be inline with the Environment (Wales) Act 2016, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the United Nations definition of sustainable land management, including a framework for the sustainable management of natural resources.
As a result, there are grave concerns associated with how these changes to the long-established EU definition of Rural Development (RD) will impact farm businesses and rural communities, with the changes clearly designed to pave the way for Welsh Ministers to shape it in a way that reflects the principles that underpin their proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme. Such changes could result in damaging consequences - not only to farmers and land managers, but to all sectors within rural communities that receive support through the RDP, particularly if our competitors in EU Countries continue to base RD schemes on a broader set of principles that better assist rural businesses, including farms.
The consultation will be discussed in FUW County Executive meetings throughout September and a response based on the views of committees will be prepared and sent on behalf of the FUW by the closing date of 23 October.