The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has met with the recently elected First Minister for Wales, Vaughan Gething, and new Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies, to discuss the way forward for the farming industry.

The FUW welcomes this early opportunity to outline the current challenges faced as a farming industry and to discuss possible next steps with the newly appointed First Minister and Cabinet Secretary following the FUW’s request for an urgent meeting.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has recently (21 March) provided oral evidence as part of the Senedd Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee’s inquiry into the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), during which the Union presented a strong case for the need to rethink current proposals.

As the recently appointed First Minister for Wales, Vaughan Gething MS, announces his new Senedd Cabinet, it has been revealed that Huw Irranca-Davies MS will be taking up the role of Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

In writing to the recently appointed Secretary, the FUW said - Firstly, the FUW would like to congratulate Huw Irranca-Davies on being appointed as the new Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.

Food security expected to be EU’s top agricultural priority from 2024-2029

A leaked draft of the EU’s Strategic Agenda, which outlines the EU’s priorities for 2024-2029, has put food security as a priority for agricultural policy.

While the previous vision was to ‘promote sustainable agriculture’ the vision for the next 5 years focuses only on ensuring ‘food security through a vibrant agriculture sector,’ with no mention of sustainability goals.