The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has welcomed the announcement made by Minister Lesley Griffiths on 21st December 2020 stating that the total direct payment ceiling has been set at £238 million in order to provide the same level of direct payments to farmers in 2021 as last year.
Given that on 25th November 2020 the UK Government announced that Wales’ 2021-2022 financial year allocation for agriculture and rural development would be £242 million, some £137 million less than what was promised when taking pillar transfer into account, it is pleasing to note that Welsh Government has prioritised direct payments to farmers to provide much needed stability under such difficult circumstances.
This has been possible following the creation of Direct Payments to Farmers and Rural Affairs (Miscellaneous Amendments etc.) (Wales) (EU Exit) Regulations (2020/1556) on 16th December, allowing for Welsh Government to set the annual BPS budget for Wales, use a simplified BPS calculation and remove Greening payments.
It is extremely important that this allocation has been made in order to underpin agriculture in Wales for the next 12 months given the current uncertainty and disruption following the end of the Brexit transition period however, it must be noted that there remains a budget shortfall somewhere in the system which creates a challenge for Welsh Government when it comes to funding rural development projects.
Full details of the changes to the BPS rules for 2021 will be outlined in the 2021 Single Application Rules Booklet which will be published in February, including the changes to the way BPS entitlement values will be calculated.