Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you very much, Sam Kurtz, for choosing such a fantastic topic for your first short debate. I'd like to thank other Members for their contributions too.

Through their activities, Wales's young farmers clubs provide unique opportunities for young people to develop their ambitions, their skills and their confidence, and these behaviours we know are absolutely invaluable as they look for employment, develop or take over an established farming business or seek to start new enterprises—or, indeed, become a Member of the Senedd, as we've heard from some of our new Members particularly today.

I think Sam raised a really important point when he said that sometimes, outside of the agricultural sector or our rural communities, young farmers clubs are a bit of a best-kept secret. I can't say that I was ever a member of a YFC, but I do remember—I'm trying to work it out—probably about 46 years ago being dragged to a local disco being run by a young farmers club, and the friend who dragged me there did indeed find her husband at the disco that night. 

On Monday, my colleague Vaughan Gething, the economy Minister, started a conversation on the long-term demographic challenges facing the Welsh economy and the need to support our young people to make their future in Wales. So, I would like to reassure Sam, because he referred to that, that the role of Wales YFC is helping us achieve the same, and I think, going forward, will really be invaluable for us. 

Our programme for government commits us to delivering our young persons guarantee, which is an ambitious programme that will aim to provide young people under 25 in Wales with support to gain a place in education or training, or support to get into work or self-employment. Wales already has many of the components in place to provide the basis for a good young persons guarantee. Young people have access to a wide variety of programmes that include traineeships, ReAct, community employability programmes, business start-up support and personal learning accounts, and partners such as YFC Wales do play a key part in supporting our young people to access such opportunities through the guarantee.

As a Government, we're also committed to developing an entrepreneurial culture, and through Big Ideas Wales, we want to inspire young people to be enterprising and help them on their journey to starting a business. Working with the YFC, Big Ideas Wales has provided inspirational role models for local meetings, providing business advice and support to their members looking to start a business. Similarly, the Welsh Government also continues to provide support for young entrants and those who want to enter the agricultural industry. Young people entering the industry ensure that a vibrant agricultural sector is maintained, ensuring employment opportunities so that young people can remain within their rural communities. It is essential, if we are to maintain viable and thriving communities, that young people have the confidence to achieve their ambitions within their rural communities.

The importance of this for the Welsh language was referred to by Sam and I don't think it can be underestimated, with the future of the language and our target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050 entwined with thriving rural communities. Our Welsh language division provides Wales YFC with a core funding grant of nearly £125,000 to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language within their programme of activities. This funding provides the Wales YFC office with over £63,000 to support their national initiatives and to fund a Welsh language development officer who is responsible for creating opportunities for young people to use the Welsh language, as well as supporting their members to become new Welsh speakers. The remaining £62,000 is distributed to all of the county federations, to be spent on specific activities to support the use of the language within each county.

We are all aware how significant a role the YFC plays in the lives of our young people in rural Wales—not least in recent years the steps that it has taken to raise awareness and mitigate the effects of mental health issues among its members. As a member of the Wales farm safety partnership, I know that the organisation has worked hard to reduce fatalities and accidents on farms by ensuring that its members are aware of how to reduce risks and also how to change behaviours.

When I received correspondence from the YFC last summer about the pandemic and the financial impact on the organisation, I asked my officials to meet with representatives of the organisation to explore possible avenues of support. I was pleased to hear that YFC was successful in its bid to the Welsh Government cultural resilience fund, having been awarded over £130,000 in 2020, with a further £87,000 awarded this year.

The enthusiasm and dedication of young people in Welsh agriculture and our wider rural communities is inspirational. As we have heard, there is no better example of this than during the pandemic. Even though the necessary COVID restrictions meant that clubs couldn't meet face to face, they continued to connect with each other and meet online. They supported their local communities by assisting and supporting those who were isolated and by helping key workers.

YFC members are a credit to their families, their clubs and wider rural communities. I am pleased that, as a Government, we continue to support the organisation, and I very much hope that Wales YFC, likewise, continues to support our young people who have a love for agriculture and rural life for many years to come. I look forward to many more entertaining and fun visits with YFC members over the coming months and years. Diolch yn fawr iawn.