NFU Cymru concerned farmers will be worse off under new interim scheme
18th September 2023
NFU Cymru’s Rural Affairs Board has voiced concerns that farmers’ finances may take a hit when transitioning to the new interim environment scheme, designed to fill the gap between the end of Glastir and the start of the Sustainable Farming Scheme in 2025.
Current Glastir Advanced, Commons and Organic area-based contracts are coming to an end in December 2023, to be replaced by the Welsh Government’s new Habitat Cymru Scheme, which will see farmers paid per hectare of eligible habitat land.
The eligibility criteria covers habitat land previously under management in 2023; additional mapped habitat land, not currently under paid management; as well as maintaining environmental support for common land.
The budget for the scheme and payment rates have yet to be announced by the Welsh Government.
The new interim scheme was top of the agenda at NFU Cymru’s Rural Affairs Board, which met earlier this month.
Hedd Pugh, chair of the Rural Affairs Board, commented: “In a letter to the Minister last month, NFU Cymru stressed the need to provide a stable and well-planned transition from current to future schemes.
“We have welcomed Welsh Government’s reassurances that it intends to make this period of change as easy as possible for farmers through offering a fair transition over several years and making sure there is no cliff edge in funding.”
However, Mr Pugh added it was “deeply concerning” that the government seems to have made a decision without extensive impact assessment and economic modelling, leaving thousands of farmers at risk of losing a significant portion of their income from the end of the year.
“For contract holders, Glastir is a critical component of farm business incomes, including supporting the organic farming sector in Wales,” Mr Pugh stressed. “With farm input costs through the roof and interest rates soaring, the loss of Glastir leaves farmers currently under contract in a worrying situation.”
Along with the Board, he called for the extension of the current Glastir scheme through 2024 and the new habitat scheme to be offered to farmers not currently holding Glastir contracts.
“The maintenance of current funding levels for farming through the Basic Payment Scheme in 2024, alongside the provision of adequate funding for agri-environment is going to be essential to maintaining the confidence of the industry ahead of Welsh Government’s proposed introduction of the Sustainable Farming Scheme from 2025,” he concluded.
