SAM ROWLANDS, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales is concerned about the lack of clarity in the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) announcement.
Despite calls for an overhaul of the scheme by the farming community in 2023, the updated SFS scheme still leaves the farming community concerned.
Sam Rowlands, a keen supporter of farmers and the agricultural sector said: “It is unacceptable that farmers in North Wales are continuing to face such uncertainty.
“Despite the Welsh Labour Government promising this scheme would benefit our farmers, they have been left having to rush through potentially lifechanging alterations.
“I am concerned about where the funding is going to come from on the tree planting scheme, potentially leaving farmers out of pocket for a policy which caused outrage two years ago.
“My Welsh Conservative colleagues and I will continue to speak up the farming community in North Wales.”
The scheme is still being developed and is not expected to be finalised until the autumn, despite it being expected to go live on 1st January 2026. Farmers believe they won’t have time to plan for the changes.
The removal of stiles on footpaths could open up farms to the risk of damage from illegal scramble biking, causing additional issues to farmers on top of the worries SFS scheme is causing to farmers.
The Welsh Government have slashed the Basic Payment Scheme by 40% despite promising they would only cut it by 20% in the first year. This is worrying for farmers who are apprehensive about joining the scheme.
