Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Samuel Kurtz has called on the Welsh Labour Government to acknowledge their failures in developing the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).
The SFS, intended to replace the Common Agricultural Policy following the UK's departure from the EU, has encountered significant challenges. These range from its widespread unpopularity among farmers—due to the enforced tree-planting on productive farmland—to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the funding levels that farmers can expect.
Speaking after the debate, Samuel Kurtz said: “It was the responsibility of everyone in the Chamber who cares about farming and rural communities to forcefully highlight the inadequacy of the SFS in its current form.
“The Welsh Labour Government should be ashamed of their failure to engage properly with farmers. It should never have taken thousands of farmers descending on Cardiff Bay, nor the symbolic placement of wellington boots on the steps of the Senedd, to make the Government finally stop and listen. Speaking at that event was one of the proudest moments of my life, but it should never have been allowed to get that bad that farmers felt compelled to protest.
“The Welsh Government must now act swiftly to address these issues. Farmers need clear answers to plan for their future, their livelihoods, and their communities. If the SFS is not developed and implemented correctly, farming across Wales will be put at risk.”
The SFS, intended to replace the Common Agricultural Policy following the UK's departure from the EU, has encountered significant challenges. These range from its widespread unpopularity among farmers—due to the enforced tree-planting on productive farmland—to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the funding levels that farmers can expect.
Speaking after the debate, Samuel Kurtz said: “It was the responsibility of everyone in the Chamber who cares about farming and rural communities to forcefully highlight the inadequacy of the SFS in its current form.
“The Welsh Labour Government should be ashamed of their failure to engage properly with farmers. It should never have taken thousands of farmers descending on Cardiff Bay, nor the symbolic placement of wellington boots on the steps of the Senedd, to make the Government finally stop and listen. Speaking at that event was one of the proudest moments of my life, but it should never have been allowed to get that bad that farmers felt compelled to protest.
“The Welsh Government must now act swiftly to address these issues. Farmers need clear answers to plan for their future, their livelihoods, and their communities. If the SFS is not developed and implemented correctly, farming across Wales will be put at risk.”
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NewsTranscript
00:00Affairs Committee, Paul Davies, and thank the committee staff and those witnesses who
00:03gave evidence to us, and I'm sure I can extend those tributes to Llyr Gruffydd, who's the
00:09chair of the Climate Change Committee.
00:11Although I don't sit on the committee, I did contribute, and Janet says you're a wonderful
00:14chair.
00:15But I am very pleased to contribute today on this debate.
00:20I won't be focusing on all three of the reports published.
00:22I'll be focusing on the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs report on the sustainable farming
00:28scheme.
00:29I don't have enough time to go into depth on the Farming Connect or the climate changes
00:33report, so I'm glad that there's many speakers here this evening.
00:36But my primary reason for welcoming this debate is that it's necessary.
00:40The recommendations of both committees must be heard and, crucially, acted upon.
00:44I want to see agriculture thrive, Welsh agriculture thrive, as the highest quality, environmentally
00:51sustainable food-producing industry that it already is, and know that it can continue
00:56to be.
00:57It is evident from the ETRA report that there are serious issues with the sustainable farming
01:02scheme, many of which my colleagues have already highlighted.
01:04I would like to focus on certain aspects that, in my view, demonstrate a lack of forethought
01:10in the scheme, particularly the wording around social value.
01:16Recommendation 4 of the report makes this abundantly clear, urging the Welsh Government
01:19to work swiftly through the roundtable to define the social value element of the scheme.
01:26I find it quite hard to believe that this even needs to be stated.
01:29Surely, it shouldn't be the requirement of a committee recommendation to compel the Government
01:35to clarify a key term of its own, which will form part of crucial agricultural support
01:41going forward.
01:42However, clarification of the terminology is only one aspect.
01:45The lack of adequate financial support for farmers is another.
01:50Looking at recommendation 2 of the ETRA report, there has been a failure to include tenant
01:54farmers and those working on common land in the SFS.
01:57The previous Agricultural Minister, Rural Affairs Minister, repeatedly said, ëIf it
02:01doesnít work for tenants, it doesnít work.í Well, by that definition, the scheme does
02:07not work.
02:09This leads me to a broader point, encapsulated in conclusion 2 of the ETRA report, which
02:14addresses both of the issues Iíve already touched uponócommunication with farmers and
02:18the payments they will receive.
02:21There has been an alarming lack of information provided to farmers about payment methodology
02:25and the rates they can expect.
02:28While the preparity phase allows some time for details to be worked out, it is vital
02:32that this work is completed without delay, with the Welsh Government giving full consideration
02:37to stakeholdersí views, noting as well that not all farmers are members of farming unions.
02:43How can the message and that information get to them, and vice versa?
02:48The debate on the SFS has revealed one undeniable truthófarmers are desperate for that clarity
02:54on the rules, on the funding, on the futureóyet their calls have always been somewhat ignored,
03:01with farmers left sitting and asking themselves why.
03:05Why have we spent so much time getting to this point, only to be still without a workable
03:09system to secure the future of farming in Wales?
03:13The first consultation, ëBrexit on our landí, launched in 2018, yet, six years and five
03:19consultations later, weíre still waiting for a workable scheme that farmers want to
03:23subscribe to.
03:25Why has the Welsh Government allowed this to drag on for so long?
03:29Why was the co-design process nothing more than a token gesture?
03:33If co-design actually meant something, we wouldnít find ourselves in the situation
03:37today debating these three committee reports.
03:41Why have farmers, unions, industry experts and entire rural communities had their concerns
03:48about the deeply flawed sustainable farming scheme fall on deaf ears?
03:53Why did it take a series of protests across Wales, including one of the largest on the
03:58very steps of this Senedd, for the Welsh Government to finally pay attention?
04:03And whyóand this is what really frustrates me, Llywyddóis it that, time and time again,
04:09agriculture and our farmers are treated as something that can be traded off, paid lip
04:13service to, their concerns quashed, instead of being properly supported as the backbone
04:19of our rural communities that they truly are?
04:22In closing, Llywydd, I urge this Government to listen, to hear the voices of our farmers,
04:28our rural communities and these two Senedd committees.
04:31Theyíre not asking for the impossible.
04:34Theyíre asking for clarity, for fairness and for respect.
04:38Welsh farming is at the heart of our nation, the foundation of our rural communities, and
04:43it, I believe, deserves better.
04:46The time for delay is long past.
04:49This Government must act now before itís too late to protect the future of Welsh agriculture.