The Welsh Government has announced that Welsh farmers will receive over £1 billion across the current Senedd term to support sustainable agriculture, a move aimed at providing long-term certainty for the sector. Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, Llyr Gruffydd, made the announcement at the Royal Welsh Show, detailing that the funding delivers £340 million per year for three years to March 2030 under the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS). This includes a guaranteed £238 million per year for the universal layer and £102 million for optional and collaborative layers.
Funding Levels and Sector Reactions
The settlement is roughly equivalent to the funding farms have received since 2012, but the sector had been seeking £500 million to account for inflation. The Welsh Government stated that the move ends the year-to-year funding model that has made long-term planning difficult for farming businesses, fulfilling a pledge made in the Plaid Cymru Government’s first 100 days.
Mr Gruffydd said: “Giving farmers only 12 months’ line of sight to funding is not sufficient. We know how hard it is to plan and make business decisions without knowing what funding is coming. Farmers told us loud and clear they need certainty and stability - and that is exactly what we are delivering.”
Red Tape Reduction and Simplification
Following early feedback from an independent review led by John Davies into bureaucratic burdens on family farms, the minister announced early action to cut red tape. The Welsh Government will simplify the Animal Health Improvement Cycle (AHIC) in the universal layer of the SFS. It will work with interested farm assurance schemes to align requirements, meaning farmers in those schemes will only need to complete one form from 2027, delivering two outcomes from a single vet visit: farm assurance and SFS compliance.
The minister also announced that the rollout of some optional actions and the new window of the Integrated Natural Resources Scheme will open later this year, a key element feeding into the collaborative layer.
Political and Union Responses
Welsh Conservative Shadow Farming Minister Andrew RT Davies criticised the funding, stating: “This represents a real terms cut to farming support and falls far short of what farmers warned is required. Plaid Cymru separatists have found money to fund a Nation of Sanctuary for asylum seekers, but won’t fund Welsh farming adequately. Their priorities are all wrong.”
NFU Cymru President Abi Reader welcomed the confirmation of the 70:30 split between universal and optional/collaborative layers for the length of the Senedd term. She said: “It is the universal layer - and in particular the social value payment within this layer - that provides stability to farm businesses. This move to a ring-fenced multi-annual system of farm support, coupled with a 70:30 funding split, will underpin the financial resilience of family farms and help them ride out these challenges, whilst at the same time helping deliver on our ambition for the sustainable growth of the sector.”
FUW president Ian Rickman also expressed relief: “Recent years have brought significant financial uncertainty for the farming sector in Wales... so today’s commitment to provide certainty until March 2030 is a welcomed relief for the family farms of Wales. It provides much-needed stability and a stronger foundation for the remainder of the decade.” However, he emphasised the need to increase base-level funding to match policy ambitions.
Victoria Bond, director of the Country Land and Business Association Cymru, said: “We are pleased that the Welsh Government has listened to the sector and delivered on its pledge for multi-annual funding. Certainty is essential for farmers and rural businesses that form the backbone of Wales’ countryside. Simplifying the animal health improvement cycle and aligning it with existing farm assurance schemes from 2027 is a sensible move that will reduce bureaucracy and ease the burden on farmers.”
