Supporting Farmers

Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:10 pm on 24 June 2020.

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Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 1:10, 24 June 2020

Thank you, Minister, and you've anticipated my supplementary question, which is on the topic of the dairy rescue scheme and the effect on dairy farmers at the moment—a very live issue in my corner of Wales, and a number of Members have asked you about it.

You said—in answer to Angela Burns, I think it was, and, indeed, to Andrew R.T. Davies—that there are always going to be winners and losers in a scheme and that resources are tight at the moment, which I fully understand. Would you agree with me that the problem with the effect on the dairy industry is that it's almost delivering a double-whammy, if you like, to rural areas? Because of course you've got, first of all, the effect on the hospitality industry of the lockdown, which is a key sector of the economy in rural Wales, and the knock-on effect of farmers, who don't have so much milk to sell, then affects the rural economy in a second wave.

So, in terms of your dairy rescue scheme, what are you doing to look at the overall effect on rural communities of the effect on dairy farmers, and how are you assisting dairy farmers in their diversification at this time, so that we can mitigate the whole consequential effect on our rural ares?