The Minister has published the two co-design reports which
include views from farmers and other stakeholders, along with the
Welsh Government’s response.
The next
stage in the process will be the consultation on the Sustainable
Farming Scheme which is due to take place later this year.
Decisions on the final design of the scheme will not be made
until after this consultation has concluded.
The
Minister said: “Last summer I published outline proposals for the
Sustainable Farming Scheme which were a basis for a period of
co-design with farmers and stakeholders, and I’m very grateful
for their contribution. The proposals were high-level so
farmers could contribute their vast experience and ideas.
“The SFS
will be our main mechanism to support farmers to lower their
carbon footprint and deliver for nature whilst, at the same time,
continuing to produce food sustainably through resilient
agricultural businesses. It also recognises the key role farmers
play as stewards of our Welsh language, heritage and culture.
“I’m
pleased to publish today the co-design reports and the
government’s response to these which outlines thoughts on the way
ahead taking on board the feedback. All of this will now
feed into the consultation to take place later this year.
“We have
never before been able to utilise farmers input in this way, when
designing a scheme, and I look forward to further discussing the
proposals with farmers at the Royal Welsh and other shows this
summer. The feedback and co-operation to date will
help us all to deliver an ambitious and accessible scheme for
active farmers.”
Considerations in the Welsh Government’s response to the
co-design include:
- Feedback suggested farmers needed time to understand and
implement changes. A phased approach could be considered, which
could mean rolling out the Universal Actions when the scheme
begins in 2025, with Optional and Collaborative Actions in the
following years.
- It was proposed a Habitat Baseline Review would be needed
before joining the scheme. Consideration will be made on how to
make this scalable for the Universal Layer by using information
already held, to remotely identify habitats on the farm through
the familiar process of RPW online.
- Opportunities will be explored to better recognise good
management of existing habitats and woodland above the proposed
minimum requirement
- Based on feedback, further detail has been provided on the
scenarios where tree planting is not possible. Changes are being
explored so the planting action is not 10% of the entire holding,
but 10% of the remaining area once unsuitable areas have been
identified. The 10% tree cover would include existing tree cover.
The final consultation on the scheme is due to be published later
this year, with the final scheme announced in 2024 for
implementation in 2025.
Notes to editors
Note
The reports are:
The ‘Sustainable Farming Scheme Co-design Final Report’
is the collated feedback from over 1600 contributions, primarily
from farmers, covering all main agricultural sectors.
‘Sustainable Farming Scheme - Analysis of feedback to the
outline scheme proposals’ reflects the responses of 100
stakeholder organisations, groups and individuals who contributed
wider feedback.
‘Sustainable Farming Scheme Outline Proposals – Co-design
Response.
Sustainable Farming Scheme
Co-design: final report | GOV.WALES
Sustainable Farming
Scheme: analysis of feedback to the outline scheme proposals |
GOV.WALES
Sustainable Farming Scheme
Outline Proposals: Co-design response | GOV.WALES
