NFU Cymru calls for major overhaul of new farming scheme

The Welsh Government must listen to farmers and change their proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), says Wales’s farming union.

The SFS proposals have been the source of widespread concern within the farming community in Wales since their publication because of their primary focus on environmental rather than food production outcomes.

NFU Cymru said “the swell of responses” to its own consultation on the scheme identified that significant changes are required.

The farming union’s appeal comes after the Welsh Government yesterday (11 July) published an independent analysis and its response to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS): Keeping Farmers Farming consultation.

The analysis of the consultation responses pointed to a large number of concerns from the agricultural community, including the perceived complexity of the scheme; a desire for there to be a focus on food production; a clear opposition to the woodland requirements of the scheme; and the additional strain and burden the scheme could place on farmers.

Responding to the information published by Welsh Government, NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: “The independent analysis undertaken of the thousands of consultation responses received echoes the feedback that we picked up during our very extensive 12-week farmer engagement exercise and is a clear indicator of the need for a major overhaul of the SFS consultation proposals.”

In May, NFU Cymru applauded the approach taken by the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, to introduce a new timeline for the Sustainable Farming Scheme, maintaining the BPS for 2025 and committing to a programme of ‘meaningful engagement’ through working in partnership with industry.

“We are encouraged that the Cabinet Secretary has now established the Ministerial Roundtable, the Carbon Sequestration Evidence Review Panel and the SFS Stakeholder Group to provide advice on the final Scheme design,” Jones said.

“We are pleased to be part of these discussions and recognise the work that has been undertaken thus far. It is vital that this process continues in a positive vein and delivers meaningful change that reflects the scale of concern over the previous proposals.”

NFU Cymru said it remains clear the SFS must move beyond a scheme focused predominately on the delivery of environmental outcomes, and instead become a genuine agricultural policy that underpins food production in an increasingly volatile world.

Jones added: “This is the most significant change to agricultural policy in a generation. We are clear that no decisions on the SFS should be undertaken until Welsh Government has undertaken a full socio-economic assessment of the impact of its proposals on Welsh farming, rural communities and the supply chain. The new scheme must deliver the same level of stability to farming, the supply chain and rural Wales as the current support arrangements.”