Supporting the Farming Industry in Mid Wales

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 13 November 2019.

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Photo of Russell George Russell George Conservative 1:55, 13 November 2019

Thank you for your answer, Minister. As you can imagine, I regularly meet with the farming unions in Montgomeryshire. The issue that they raised with me in the last meeting, as you would not be surprised about at all, is the 'Sustainable Farming and our Land' consultation. They have raised a number of questions regarding how the scheme would work in practice, and how the abandonment of the stability mechanism that protects farmers from that market volatility would work in practice, and how it would impact businesses.

Now, given that you've emphasised to me and to others that this is a genuine consultation rather than being a done deal, can I ask how the Government will take into account these concerns that they've raised with me, and the need to address them in designing any future schemes? And how would the bespoke support for every farm work in practice—'practice' being the key word here; how it would it work in practice—and will you confirm that the proposals will not result in extra bureaucracy for farmers and, indeed, of course, for Welsh Government?