Thank you, Presiding Officer. I formally move amendment 1 in the name of Paul Davies in the debate that UKIP have tabled this afternoon in relation to stocking our upland areas and the general agricultural argument about the livestock sector here in Wales.

I do regret that we are unable to support the motion because I do think it is a negative process when you are deleting motions in their entirety, but I do find that the motion that you have tabled is far too broad to find any real aspect that we could find to support a position on. In particular, there are some cases where there are worthwhile incentives put in place to remove livestock from certain areas because of sites of special scientific interest status for example, the carbon capture argument and other environmental gains that can be achieved in some of our uplands.

That's why we've put an amendment down today that looks at the overall picture of livestock farming, both in the uplands and the lowlands, because the historical livestock pattern here in Wales is one of a joined-up approach, where the uplands and the lowlands cannot be divided. I do find that, sometimes, when we debate in this Chamber, we try and divide the livestock industry into specific sectors at the expense of the other sector. There's that integration that is integral to the fabric of Welsh agriculture that we break at our peril. So, I do believe that we've got to look, when we're talking about agriculture, at the joined-up approach of upland and lowland working together to strengthen and make it more resilient, the livestock sector here in Wales, so that we can add greater value to what our livestock farms produce and, ultimately, keep more money in our rural communities and, above all, offer young people a greater chance in the agricultural community, with new openings in farms the length and breadth of Wales. It cannot be right at the moment that the average age of farmers in Wales is 61. There just is no or little opportunity for young farmers to come in to the industry, and, with Brexit, that does offer us the opportunity—as, in fairness, the Cabinet Secretary has highlighted—that we can craft policies that do drive agriculture here in Wales, that are Welsh-specific and UK-specific.

And, certainly in my new role as the agriculture and rural affairs spokesman for the Conservative benches, I very much look forward to looking at new ways of developing support for the agricultural industry by adding value to the great produce that we produce. And that's why, in point 4 of the amendment that we have before the Assembly today, we do ask and seek clarification from the Cabinet Secretary as to what progress she has been able to make on rebalancing the promotional levy. There has been an ongoing debate and discussion for quite some time, because however many numbers of livestock we have in the uplands, whether they be sheep or cattle, there is this promotional levy that is able to go back into the industry to promote and encourage greater use of Welsh produce and, at the moment, that system is generated at the point of processing, i.e. the abattoir, rather than at the point of rearing. And, so, because of the nature of the processing sector here in Wales and the limited opportunity, especially in the cattle sector, for the animals to be processed here in Wales, many of the cattle that the blood, sweat and tears of the farming community have gone into to finish for the market are processed in England and other parts of the UK and that promotional levy stays within that jurisdiction rather than here in Wales. And I do think that that is an injustice that does need to be rebalanced, and I do hope that the Minister will use the opportunity this afternoon to address it, as it's in our amendment.

The other point I would also like to make, as the amendment touches on, is on the nature of the upland communities in the way that they support the wider economy of rural Wales in particular. The tourist sector, for example—as the mover of the motion highlighted, £250 million is added to the tourist industry here in Wales by having a vibrant uplands sector that has activity at its heart and has a community that is generating wealth. And let's not forget that the livestock sector here in Wales contributes to the £6.9 billion agri-food industry that employs so many people the length and breadth of Wales. 

We have gone through 25 years of various European reforms, from the MacSherry reforms in the early 1990s, which, for the first time, moved production subsidies away from producing livestock and more into—as some Members will be familiar with—the set-aside regimes and, obviously, the environmental schemes that came forward in the 1990s and the 2000s. There is a balance to be struck, but what I would suggest to you is that farmers are the original friends of the earth campaigners, because, ultimately, they rely on their living, their livelihoods, coming from the land and they want to see a strong environment with a good agricultural outlook that brings the next generation forward.

And, as I've said, we can have the debate about the European Union and the outcome of the referendum in this Chamber time and time again, but the fact of the matter is that there is an opportunity to create a Welsh agricultural support package, a rural agricultural support package, that keeps the environment and agriculture walking in synch together and developing world-beating solutions. I hope we take those opportunities and, ultimately, deliver a future for youngsters to come into the agricultural industry and a rural economy that is vibrant, is dynamic, and does offer those opportunities, and that's why I move the amendment to the motion in the name of Paul Davies this afternoon.