Full details of the next step in Wales's Sustainable Farming Scheme will be announced at this month's Royal Welsh Winter Fair, rural affairs secretary Huw Irranca-Davies has announced.

The minister, who is also deputy First Minister, says excellent progress has been made and he intends to issue a written statement to Senedd Members on Monday, November 25, accompanying a revised Scheme Outline, when he will be "celebrating the quality of Welsh farming and produce in person at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Winter Fair, Builth Wells."

This will be followed by an oral update to Senedd Members in plenary on Tuesday, November 26.

He added: "Since the Sustainable Farming Scheme: Keeping farmers farming consultation closed in March this year, I have been listening to feedback and working with stakeholders on the Ministerial Roundtable and supporting groups, including the farming unions and representatives of the Wales Environment Link, on the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

"This positive collaboration with stakeholders has made excellent progress towards developing a Scheme which provides appropriate and accessible support for farmers in Wales to produce quality, sustainable food along with other benefits aligned to the Sustainable Land Management objectives."

Earlier the minister had told delegates at the recent NFU Cymru’s annual conference in Llandrindod Wells that a revised outline of the scheme would be published soon.

Thereafter there would be further work, including modelling and a revised Integrated Impact Assessment.

This will be reviewed by the Ministerial Roundtable before the final decision on the scheme’s design is made next year, ahead of its rollout in 2026.

Farmers had kicked back from the Welsh Government’s initial plans for the SFS and that had forced a rethink.

Actions including carbon sequestration, biodiversity enhancement, and water quality management had raised concerns about cost and how practical they would be to implement.

The focus on increasing tree cover and habitat on farms has been a source of resistance too - the Welsh government proposes that every farm should have at least 10% tree cover and 10% habitats.

Farmers are concerned about how these policies would impact on food production and farm profitability.

“These are difficult subjects but, working together, we will find solutions,” Mr Irranca-Davies suggested.

“We have now the opportunity, not only to shape policies but to shape the way in which Wales values farming and our farmers.”

Last week’s Budget announcement by chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that funding for agriculture from 2024-25 has been baselined in each devolved government’s block grant.

Mr Irranca-Davies told the conference he had asked the Welsh government for an “inflation uplift” in the agriculture budget for Wales.

The Welsh government will publish its draft Budget on December 10, which will set out spending plans for next year.

NFU Cymru understands that £340m should be forthcoming from the Treasury block grant to Welsh government for agricultural support.

President Aled Jones said he wanted to see the budget cuts made to the Rural Affairs budget last autumn reinstated in full, while maintaining the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) at current levels for 2025 and a range of interventions to meet the “significant’’ investment required for farmers to meet environmental obligations.