Unique opportunity

“The UK’s departure from the European Union has brought about the unique opportunity to develop new agricultural policy here in Wales for the first time. These changes provide the chance for Welsh Ministers to craft legislation that is going to help Welsh food and farming continue to grow and achieve its ambitions, alongside delivering for the environment and the people and communities of Wales.

“However, our dairy farming members are telling us that the current proposals make the Sustainable Farming Scheme inhibitive to them. Many feel that joining the scheme will see them have to sacrifice productive land to tree planting and this will hinder their ability to supply growing markets, both at home and abroad.

Carbon footprint

“Of course, Welsh farmers recognise that they have a role to play in combatting the effects of climate change. Looking specifically at the Welsh dairy industry, our farmers are optimising the use of genetics, improving nutrition and enhancing animal health, all of which leads to more efficient cows and means our milk has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world.

“Our net zero ambition means we are always looking at further improvements and Welsh farmers are amenable to increasing tree cover on their farms to add to the huge amounts of trees, hedgerows and grasslands already capturing carbon on Welsh farms. It is crucial, though, that if the number of trees is going to be increased, this must be done in a sensitive way that protects our prime agricultural land and in doing so, protects food production. This will look different on every farm in Wales, the blanket approach to tree planting proposed in the scheme simply won’t work and will see many farmers, including those in dairy, opt not to join this new support scheme.

Viable scheme

“The Welsh Rural Affairs Minister has already highlighted that the current plans for the scheme are outline proposals and are not set in stone. We believe it’s vital that the Minister listens to the concerns of the industry on this matter – this scheme cannot be considered a success if it is not seen as a viable scheme to all farmers in every sector. Therefore, I urge the Minister to work with NFU Cymru and fine-tune these proposals to ensure the Welsh dairy sector and the wider Welsh farming industry can continue to be a success story that the whole of Wales can celebrate.

“Equally, I encourage all Welsh farmers to actively engage with Welsh Government’s co-design process and highlight the strong feeling from the industry on this topic.”