The Meirionnydd branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales has thrown its support behind their local YFC rally, which is being held on June 9 at Ty’n Ffridd, Sarnau near Bala, by doubling its sponsorship this year.

Huw Jones, the FUW’s Meirionnydd CEO, said: “ We have said it many times before - the service the YFC movement provides is invaluable. We have therefore doubled our contribution to £400 in order to show extra support due to the financial cutbacks facing the YFC since they are losing all of their local authority funding after 2018.

“The work they do in helping and supporting young people to become successful farmers, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens, can’t be praised enough. If only we could bottle the YFC secret sauce and introduce it to our larger towns and cities I'm sure we could rid ourselves of many societal problems.”

As the Young People into Agriculture Scheme Expression of Interest window opens, the Farmers’ Union of Wales is reminding young farmers interested in participating to submit their applications.

Under the scheme, Welsh Government is offering 150 farmers start-up aid worth £40,000. There is only one application window and expressions of interest must be made before 12 June 2018.

The applications will be scored over nine criteria and ranked in order until the maximum number allowed (150) is reached.

The scheme is only available to those people who are setting up as head of a holding for the first time (by 1 September of the scheme year), or who started as head of a holding for the first time in the 12 months prior to 1 April.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has reacted cautiously to a Welsh Government statement setting out a timetable for moving from the Basic Payment Scheme to a new system post-Brexit, stressing that protecting family farms and our rural communities must be central to any future policy.

Speaking in plenary on Tuesday (May 8), Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths confirmed that the Basic Payment Scheme will continue as planned for the 2018 and 2019 scheme years.

Assembly Members were told that a gradual multi-year transition from existing to new schemes would then take place from 2020, and that by 2025 she would like to see the implementation completed.

Further details would be published in July and be subject to consultation.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has cautiously welcomed the agreement between the UK and Welsh Government on changes to the UK Government EU (Withdrawal) Bill, and now looks forward to positive movement in the detail around creating frameworks fit for the future.