An Agriculture Bill For Wales

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 14 October 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 2:01, 14 October 2020

It is really important that we keep our farmers on the land, because that is one way of protecting the Welsh language. I've done a significant amount of work, while I've been in portfolio, to encourage young farmers. Aberystwyth University I visited, and Harper Adams University, which, obviously, is just outside of Wales, to ensure that the courses that they're offering are certainly attracting our young Welsh farmers. And that certainly seems to be working, because we see a significant number going particularly to those two universities, I would say.

Again, I think it's really important that our 'Sustainable Farming and our Land' and, obviously, then, when we bring forward a bespoke Welsh agricultural policy, support the language in a way that keeps those communities together. You will have heard me say on previous occasions, when I went out to New Zealand, hearing how, when they had that cliff edge, when that basic payment scheme stopped back in the 1980s, they felt that loss of community. For me, it's an additional part of our agricultural sector that we need to support in the Welsh language.