Payment scheme extension welcomed

INDUSTRY leaders have welcomed confirmation that the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) will continue in Wales until 2023 – and that there will be a two-year extension to the Glastir Advanced, Commons and Organic scheme contracts.

A further £7m has also been allocated by the Welsh Government to extend the Farming Connect programme through to March 2023.

All three announcements, by Lesley Griffiths, are subject to Wales receiving sufficient funding in the UK Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

This week the Rural Affairs Minister also outlined the next steps for the Sustainable Farming Scheme, the country’s new system of farm support, which will now start in January 2025.

The next phase of “co-design”, involving farmers and stakeholders, will take place next summer.

Extending Glastir contracts represents a budget commitment of £66.79m over two years for Welsh farmers. All existing eligible contract holders will be offered an extension via their RPW online accounts.

Mrs Griffith said the move was a “key part of maximising the protective power of nature through farming”.

“This extension will help us further enhance our understanding of the impact of Glastir actions and interventions, and contribute to the development of the future Sustainable Farming Scheme,” said the minister.

More than 1.3m hectares of Welsh agricultural land is already under a Glastir contract.

Applauding the BPS and Glastir announcements, NFU Cymru president John Davies said the measures will provide stability to Welsh farming at a time of “significant upheaval”.

He added: “The minister has given policymakers the breathing space to bring forward a new Agriculture Bill for Wales, and time to properly assess and model future support policies for Wales.”

Industry attention will now be focused on the upcoming spending review, with many worried Welsh farming will be left short-changed.

The FUW said it was now up to the UK Government to ensure that the right amount of funding is made available to Wales to ensure that the BPS can continue as intended.

The union fears manifesto commitments will be reinterpeted and that budget allocations will be based on unspent EU funding from the 2014-20 Common Agricultural Policy.

FUW president Glyn Roberts said this would be “disingenuous”.

“It would add to a reduction in funding that is already some £137m below what had been anticipated based on commitments,” he said.