The first made-in-Wales Agriculture Act has received Royal Assent today, despite the post-Brexit bill attracting frequent criticism from the industry.
The main source of future government support for farmers in Wales underpinned by the Act will come through the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).
The SFS establishes a policy and legislative framework with the aim of ensuring farmers can produce food and agricultural goods alongside taking action to combat climate change.
The Act also provides tenant farmers with a route to dispute resolution to ensure they are not unfairly restricted from accessing financial assistance.
However, the post-Brexit bill has faced heavy criticism, with many industry leaders warning that the absence of economic viability of family farms from the SFS' objectives was a significant concern.
Minister for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said she was 'very pleased' to see the sealing of the Wales’s first Agriculture Act on Thursday (17 August).
"This is truly a historic day for Welsh farmers and rural communities," she said, “We are now moving ahead with delivering a system of support for farmers designed in Wales, and which works for Wales.
"This includes the Sustainable Farming Scheme which will be the main source of support for farmers from 2025."
While the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) said there were some welcome developments in the bill's amendments in May, it said that ministers "should have gone further".
"We have been consistent in our calls for the inclusion of an economic objective," said FUW president, Glyn Roberts.
"Without viable farm businesses, we will not see the wider environmental, social and cultural gains that we all want to achieve.”
NFU Cymru has frequently called for the bill to underpin the financial resilience of Wales' family farms and in so doing, "sustaining rural communities, language, culture and heritage".
The union said that access to safe, high quality, affordable food was "the most basic fundamental right for all people in society".
"A key objective of the bill must be to underpin the production of a stable supply of safe, high quality, affordable food," NFU Cymru president Aled Jones said earlier in the summer.
"The bill must also include mechanisms to ensure levels of domestic food production are assessed, maintained and enhanced alongside climate, biodiversity and broader environmental objectives.
"This framework should deliver a comprehensive suite of outcomes that includes food security, incentivises on farm productivity and safeguards our rural communities and the Welsh language alongside a range of environmental outcomes."
Minister Lesley Griffiths said there 'isn’t a choice' between food production on farms and tackling climate change.
"Both must go hand in hand as the climate emergency is a real threat to agriculture and production of food," she said today.
"The Agriculture Act takes this into account, ensuring sustainable land management is at the heart of future support safeguarding the industry."
