Direct Payments for Farmers

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:50 pm on 24 October 2018.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:50, 24 October 2018

I was very pleased to be at the event at lunchtime; I'm sorry I was not able to stay for the full hour. I don't know if you were listening, but what I heard the NFU and the FUW say, when they were asked the question whether they did feel we were listening, was 'yes'. Both of those people up on the stage, both the presidents, are part of my Brexit round-table. They both said there were no surprises in that document, because they'd sat round that table. One of them said to me, 'This is a time for radical reform', and what we are proposing is radical—I accept that—but we have to design the best system for farm support here in Wales, and that's what we are consulting on. 

I absolutely agree with you about food production, and if you look at the four consultations that are being held in the UK on agriculture, I think food production is far more at the heart of those consultations in Wales than in any other of the consultations.

I mentioned in my answer to Llyr that we've proposed two schemes. That will offer farmers the opportunity to create more resilient and more diversified businesses. It's absolutely right that we make them as sustainable as possible. We want them to remain on the land. We want them to compete in global markets. There is so much uncertainty around at the moment. We also want them to provide the public goods that we all need as a society which, at the moment, I wouldn't say farmers are being paid for. So, a lot of the public goods at the moment, they're not getting an income for, and that's what the public goods scheme will do.