A statement made by Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths on 16 November regarding the outcome of a recent consultation on simplifying agricultural support in Wales has been cautiously welcomed by the farming industry.
The Sustainable Farming and our Land: Simplifying Agricultural Support consultation, which ended on the 23 October 2020, proposed eleven changes to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and a number of major changes to the principles underpinning the Rural Development Programme.
It is welcome to note that Welsh Government has accepted many of the concerns that the industry, including the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) raised, including in terms of impacts for cross border and young farmers.
Instead of only taking Welsh land into account for BPS and potentially disabling cross border farmers with less than 5 eligible hectares in Wales from being able to claim entitlements, Welsh Government has agreed to provide a derogation for cross border farmers so that they can rely on land they had available in other administrations in 2020.
The Young Farmer Scheme, which was proposed to be disabled from 2021, will also remain open for new applicants.
In regard to the Rural Development Programme (RDP) proposals, the structure provided by retained EU Law will now be expanded to incorporate the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and Environment (Wales) Act 2016, rather than replaced, as had originally been proposed in the consultation.
The FUW opposed the plans to completely overhaul Rural Development principles, stating in its response that the proposed objectives were so focussed on environmental outcomes that they failed to address the economic needs of farming and rural communities, to the extent that they risked damaging their economic, social and cultural sustainability.
While there remains questions to be answered and a great number of concerns regarding the development of future schemes, the announcement by the Minister should be considered as a positive step towards a framework that takes economic, social and environmental priorities for rural communities into account.