Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, is urging farmers to find out more about the Welsh Government’s sustainable farming scheme.
Mr Rowlands, a keen supporter of the agricultural industry, is backing NFU Cymru who are holding a number of regional roadshow events to discuss the ‘Keep Farmers Farming’ Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation.
He said:
“Hopefully these roadshows being run by NFU Cymru will help farmers to find out more about the Welsh Government’s sustainable farming scheme and how it will affect them.
“It will be a huge shake up in the way certain policies are currently run and includes replacing the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the Basic Payment Scheme, BPS, from 2025.
“The events will give a detailed overview of the consultation and what it will mean for Welsh farming and give farmers the opportunity to have their say.
“I would urge farmers in North Wales to make sure they sign up for a roadshow in their region.”
The series of nine events taking place across Wales, all kindly sponsored by Barclays Bank, form an important part of the comprehensive member engagement programme NFU Cymru is undertaking for Welsh Government’s ‘Keep Farmers Farming’ Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation and support.
The roadshow events will see members of the NFU Cymru Policy team, along with the union’s elected officeholders, giving those in attendance a detailed overview of the consultation and what it means for Welsh farming businesses.
The aim of the events is to ensure farmers are able to respond effectively to the proposals put forward by Welsh Government. The areas being discussed will include the Sustainable Farming Scheme framework, scheme eligibility, scheme rules, payment methodology and how Welsh Government proposes to manage the transition from the Basic Payment Scheme to the Sustainable Farming Scheme from 2025.
The meetings will also consider the union’s concerns over a number of aspects of the proposals, including the 10% tree planting and 10% habitat requirements.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: “This is the most significant and important Welsh Government consultation for a generation. It is of paramount importance that farmers across Wales contribute their views as part of the process – we need to ensure the industry’s voice is heard loud and clear.
“With nine events taking place throughout Wales, there is ample opportunity for farmers to come along and hear from our Policy staff about the outline Welsh Government proposals for future farm support. The full consultation is some 108-pages long but the presentation at these events will cover the key aspects on which members need to be informed.
“Given this is the most significant consultation in a generation, NFU Cymru staff will be on hand to offer advice and support to members on how to respond to the consultation.”
NFU Cymru Sustainable Farming Scheme Roadshow are being held in North Wales at 7.30pm on Monday January 29 at Ruthin Rugby Club and on Tuesday January 30 at Porthmadog Football Club.
For more information about the consultation go to NFU Cymru website.
