CAP reform

The Government has been accused of ‘failing to honour its promises to farmers’ after Defra Secretary Therese Coffey refused to set out concrete details for the future of the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme last week.

The three Environmental Land Management schemes are to remain in place incorporating an enhanced Countryside Stewardship scheme that will be more closely linked to Local Nature Recovery, the Secretary of State for Defra Therese Coffey, has revealed.

Wales Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths, has come out in support of tenant farmers, saying that if the new Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) does not work for them, it does not work at all.

Concerns are growing that Defra will not increase payment rates under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), despite an unexpected increase in the department’s budget.

Tenant farmers in Wales have expressed fears that the Governments new Sustainable Farming Scheme will be unworkable, leaving them sidelined.

Dairy farmers in Wales have said it is unlikely they will sign up to the country’s new Sustainable Farming Scheme as its current terms will ‘inhibit’ production.

Fears are growing that the agriculture budget could be slashed amid the ‘frenzy of spending cuts’ which Rishi Sunak’s new Government is expected to carry out.

NFU president Minette Batters is urging the Government to revisit UK competition law to ensure greater protection for producers.

Welsh farming unions have welcomed the news that more than 95 per cent of farmers claiming BPS will today (October 14) receive an advance payment of up to 70 per cent of their claim.

New Farming Minister Mark Spencer has confirmed Defra is considering delinking Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments early as part of its review of agricultural policies.