Welsh farmers will receive over £1 billion in funding across this Senedd term to support sustainable agriculture, giving the sector the long-term certainty needed to plan and invest with confidence.
Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability, Llyr Gruffydd, made the announcement at the Royal Welsh Show — his first as the Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability. The commitment delivers £340 million per year for three years to March 2030 for the Sustainable Farming Scheme, including a guaranteed £238 million per year for the Universal layer and £102 million for delivering the Optional and Collaborative Layers.
The move ends the year-to-year funding model that has made long-term planning difficult for farming businesses. It fulfils a pledge made in the Plaid Cymru Government’s first 100 days to provide a multi-annual budget for the Sustainable Farming Scheme.
The Minister, said: “Giving farmers only 12 months’ line of sight to funding is not sufficient. We know how hard it is to plan and make business decisions without knowing what funding is coming. Farmers told us loud and clear they need certainty and stability — and that is exactly what we are delivering.”
Following early feedback from the independent review into the bureaucratic burden on family farms, led by John Davies, the Minister also announced early action to cut red tape for farmers.
The Welsh Government has announced a simplification of the approach for the Animal Health Improvement Cycle (AHIC) in the Universal Layer of the Sustainable Farming Scheme.
The simplification will be delivered in two parts. The Welsh Government will work with any interested farm assurance scheme to ensure requirements are aligned, meaning farmers in those schemes will only need to complete one form from 2027 — delivering two outcomes from a single vet visit: farm assurance and SFS compliance.
At the heart of our approach remains the close working relationship between farmers and their vets to achieve positive outcomes.
The Minister also announced that the roll out of some Optional Actions and that the new window of the Integrated Natural Resources Scheme will open later in the year, a key element feeding into the Collaborative Layer.
The Minister concluded: “The family farm sits at the heart of rural Wales — its economy and its communities. I am committed to working to ensure farming in Wales thrives for generations to come.
“My message to farmers from day one has been – you have a Minister on your side. Someone that’s in tune with the agricultural sector, who knows that the family farm is the foundation of our rural economy and our rural communities, and who will work every day to make sure farming in Wales thrives for generations to come.”
