Farm leaders have told the Welsh government to 'listen to the voice of the industry' following a swell of responses to the Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation.
The Welsh government has today published an independent analysis and response to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) consultation.
The consultation, which ran earlier this year, received 12,000 responses, of whom the vast majority were farmers.
Representing the most significant change to Welsh farming policy in a generation, the proposals have been the source of widespread concern and anxiety since their publication.
Now an analysis of the consultation's responses points to continuing concern from the agricultural community, with one issue being the perceived complexity of the SFS.
A desire for there to be a focus on food production is also a concern frequently highlighted, as is a clear opposition to the woodland requirements of the scheme.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said the consultation's responses were a 'clear indicator' of the need for a 'major overhaul' of the SFS.
“The SFS must move beyond a scheme focussed predominately on the delivery of environmental outcomes and instead become a genuine agricultural policy that underpins food production in an increasingly volatile world," Mr Jones said.
"Changes to the SFS are needed to ensure that the universal baseline payment is practical and achievable for all farm types, sectors and locations.
"It must provide equal access to all active farmers in Wales, including tenants and commoners.
"The universal baseline payment must go beyond costs incurred / income foregone calculations and incentivise the actions that Welsh Government asks Welsh farming to deliver for society.
"The scheme must include a long-term stability mechanism to underpin the continued supply of safe, high quality, affordable food from Wales.”
The Welsh government recently confirmed that the SFS will not begin until 2026 and that a preceded preparatory phase will take place next year.
But the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) warned that the industry’s voice had now been 'loud and clear' on the proposals.
“It comes as no surprise that the consensus from the mammoth 12,000 farmers and organisations who responded to the consultation calls for significant changes to the scheme proposals," said FUW President, Ian Rickman.
“We welcome the remarks made by the Cabinet Secretary today as he commits to introducing the scheme only when it is ready.
"This needs to be an agricultural support scheme that provides stability for our food producing family farms in Wales and considers economic, social and environmental sustainability on equal footings.”
