Elin Jones MS welcomes announcement from the Minister with responsibility for agriculture of the delay to the introduction of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), the source of the concerns raised at protests by the farming community earlier this year.
Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs announced that the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) Preparatory Phase of activity will now begin in 2025, with the proposed transition period to start from 2026.
During this time, the Minister intends to have the conversations and discussions he needs to have with Plaid Cymru, as part of the Cooperation Agreement, and with the members of the Ministerial Roundtable that has been established to review matters raised from the consultation, where more work is required. The Roundtable will also help to find appropriate payment processes and alternative proposals to achieve additional carbon sequestration within the scheme. There will also be a data consultation exercise which the Minister says will, with feedback from farmers, provide an accurate picture of the habitat and tree cover across all farms.
Elin Jones MS said: “A delay is welcome to review and change the SFS to make it a more practical and less onerous scheme for farmers, to ensure that it meets the joint ambition to produce food, sustain rural communities and reduce impact on climate change.”
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