Work still needed to evolve SFS – NFU

NFU Cymru has reiterated key areas where the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) needs to continue to evolve to ensure it can deliver for Welsh farming.

- STAFF REPORTER

Officials from NFU Cymryu spelled out the issues in a meeting with deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies.

The SFS will replace EU-era subsidies, which farmers had received for decades based largely on how much land they had.

Most rely on these payments an average of 67% of Welsh farm income came from subsidies in 2020-21.

The new approach aims to reward sustainable farming practices and the delivery of "public goods" like wildlife habitat and soaking up carbon in the land. But some aspects of the original scheme left farmers deeply unhappy.

Significant changes to the original proposals have been developed.

Speaking after the meeting, NFU Cymru president Aled Jones said: "Whilst NFU Cymru continues to believe that the framework of the Sustainable Farming Scheme is right, we remain of the firm view that there is still work to do to evolve the scheme, to ensure it can deliver for Welsh farming and the communities that it underpins.