NFU Cymru leaders to boycott government's new farming scheme

NFU Cymru president Aled Jones and NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader made the announcement on the eve of this week's Royal Welsh Show, saying the standpoint echoed the viewpoint of many farmers in a variety of sectors across Wales.

Earlier this month, Welsh Government published an update on the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) proposals in its co-design response.

That update reaffirmed that participation in the universal tier of the SFS remains dependant on farmers having 10% tree cover and 10% habitat cover on their holdings, a stipulation designed to help Welsh Government reach its target of planting 43,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030.

NFU Cymru had previously warned that many farmers simply would not be able to meet this threshold, alienating them from the new support scheme, while others could not justify giving 10% of their land over to tree planting given the impact this would have on their productive capacity and business viability.

Now NFU Cymru president Aled Jones and NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader have stated their frustration that the scheme proposals are not going to work for their businesses and many others across Wales.

NFU Cymru president Aled Jones said: “While NFU Cymru remains supportive of the overarching structure of the proposed SFS arranged around universal, optional and collaborative tiers. We support the principle of farmers receiving a baseline sustainability payment in return for carrying out a set of universal actions. We have been clear that these universal actions must work for all farmers – that’s all sectors, locations, land tenures and types.

“NFU Cymru is extremely concerned and disappointed that Welsh Government appears to have doubled down on its 10% tree cover target on areas it considers suitable for tree planting within the universal tier of the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme.

“In our response to the SFS outline proposals last year, NFU Cymru highlighted the broad range of issues associated with the 10% tree cover and 10% habitat targets – some are regulatory, some are environmental, some are economic, some are agronomic – but ALL need to be understood and addressed within the scheme design.

“We want to be clear, as farmers, we are prepared to plant hedges, shelterbelts, streamside corridors and field corners on areas we identify as appropriate for planting. Our Growing Together Strategy, published in September 2021, set out how farmers can be central to a strategy for sustainably increasing tree cover in Wales. We can integrate more trees into farming systems – but we will not take our productive land out of food production for tree planting.

“Every farm is different and will vary in its capacity to reach the 10% tree cover target. Some farms will already have the requisite percentage of trees on their land. But this target has been made even more challenging with Welsh Government deciding that hedgerows will not be included in the 10% target, only individual trees in hedges.

“Welsh Government’s 10% tree cover targets present a very real barrier to scheme participation, my own farm included. With pressures to maximise land area to meet the nitrogen limit requirements of the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations, I simply do not have the additional land to spare for 10% tree cover.”

NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader said: “Whilst farmers remain in the dark about the level of incentive Welsh Government proposes for the scheme, we fear that payment rates are not likely to reflect the reduction in land values associated with tree planting - in effect a permanent land use change. Would Welsh Government expect any other sector to undertake an activity that could devalue an asset, in our case productive agricultural land, by up to 80% of its value?

“NFU Cymru recognises that agriculture has a key role to play in tackling climate change. Indeed, we were one of the first farming organisations in the world to set the ambitious goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions for agriculture by 2040 through a focus on improving farming’s productive efficiency; enhancing land use to capture more carbon; and boosting renewable energy and the wider bioeconomy.

“Already responsible for a critical carbon resource in soils, grassland, woodland landscape and semi-natural habitats we recognise there is more we can do. But tree planting targets for net zero cannot eclipse everything else. The UK Climate Change Committee (UKCCC) recognises that the transition to net zero must spread costs fairly across society. The importance of safeguarding food security is recognised in the Paris Climate Agreement. Put simply, the burden of decarbonisation should not fall unequally on our rural communities.

“Farming’s voice on how tree planting targets are developed and taken forward needs to be more clearly heard as policy, including the SFS, is developed. It is vital that climate goals are met in ways that are sustainable and fair and that the multiple economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits provided by Welsh farming are safeguarded for the future.

“Welsh Government must recognise uptake of the scheme by farmers is going to be central to the delivery of its climate and nature ambitions. Unless Welsh Government are prepared to re-consider its proposals around tree and habitat cover then the sad fact is that a significant proportion of farmers and large swathes of the countryside will, in effect, be excluded from the Sustainable Farming Scheme.

“Just as the Minister for Rural Affairs listened and subsequently amended the Agriculture Bill over the course of its journey through the Senedd, we sincerely hope that she will be prepared to do the same in the continued development of the SFS. NFU Cymru remains committed to working with government to get this right.”