I thank the Minister for the statement. We live in an unprecedented time. The agriculture sector and the communities and the families associated with the sector are under extreme pressure and, more than anything else, they're looking for stability, while, at the same time, broader society is calling out for food security and affordability. The war in Ukraine, Brexit and COVID-19 have highlighted the fragility of the food supply chain. At the same time, the Government has set notable targets to ensure the growth of the Welsh language, and we all know that the agricultural sector is vital to sustaining the language and culture. And above all we have a deadly climate emergency, which is casting a shadow over everything. It's not an easy task therefore to maintain a balance between the different elements, but that's what we have to try to do. It's no overstatement, therefore, to say that the Bill that will be introduced will be a historical turning point, which will set the tone for agriculture in Wales for generations to come.

I was very concerned during the previous discussions that the Bill would not recognise the role of farmers in food production. After all, that's why farmers farm—they produce food for the rest of us so that we can be out working and don't have to be working the land. And I thank them for that, for their work. I therefore welcome that the encouragement of food production is a specific outcome in the support aims, and I will be looking in particular during the scrutiny of the Bill at how the Government intends to assess the security of our food supply. But I will be focusing my scrutiny on the first two sections. Those are the sections that set the foundations, after all. The Bill will succeed or fail depending on the content of those sections.

I welcome what the Minister has said about the further work that's been done with Plaid Cymru, and I look forward to seeing the further amendments that will be published.

Now, the explanatory memorandum says, in part 1, that it places a duty on Welsh Ministers to exercise certain functions in the way that they consider best contributes to the delivery of the sustainable land management objectives, to the extent that that is consistent with exercising that function appropriately. The question for us, therefore, is whether this gives too much power to the Minister. How will the Minister at the time determine what best contributes to the delivery of the SLM objectives? What will be the yardstick? It mentions three sustainability pillars—economic, social and environmental—therefore the role for us in scrutinising is to ensure that that balance is sustained and that one element doesn't outweigh the other elements. How does the Minister therefore propose that that will be done effectively? So, for example, the explanatory memorandum says that:

'Food production is a vital component of SLM, as part of the production of goods to meet human needs. A sustainable approach makes it possible for farms to produce positive environmental and social outcomes'.

Implicit in this statement is the emphasis placed on environmental needs, not necessarily food production needs. Is the balance right, therefore? That's the question for us as we start on our scrutiny, because there is a weighing scale here, isn't there? The objective is to ensure that it is balanced between the needs of food production and everything associated with that, economically and socially, and environmental needs. What assurance can the Minister give us that the Bill as introduced will strike the right balance on that scale?

The funding section is open-ended. It's a vital section, but there is very little meat on the bones. The work on that will happen in due course, of course, as regulations are laid. Therefore, I'd like to ask the Minister when she foresees that the details on funding and payments will be available to us in the Senedd and to the agricultural sector. And what assurance can she give us that we as a Senedd will have an opportunity to scrutinise those regulations in full when the time comes?

And to close, suffice to say that agriculture is of vital important to Wales, to our history, identity, language, economy and future. This Bill will mean either that we see the continuation of the small family farm in Wales or we see agriculture in Wales following the same path as it has in so many other countries, leading to large farms and intensive farming. The risk is high, therefore, and we have to ensure that the future of family farming in Wales continues for future generations, while these farms play their role fully in the battle against climate change. I greatly hope that this will be the destination of this journey, and I look forward to playing my part in that process.