Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
Sharing the details of the Sustainable Farming Scheme today is truly a landmark moment for Welsh agriculture. The Scheme will support farmers in Wales to produce world class, high-quality, food whilst caring for the environment, tackling and adapting to climate change and building resilience for those who will work and care for this precious land in the years to come.
Our ambition is to see a thriving and confident agriculture sector in Wales, that is built around innovation and growth, to rise to the challenges we face and make the most of the opportunities available.
The Scheme is a product of unprecedented collaboration. We have listened to a range of views over the years, and worked intensively with stakeholders on the Ministerial Roundtable and supporting groups. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed.
This has resulted in a Scheme that we believe works for the agricultural industry as well as meeting the needs of everyone in Wales. The Scheme represents a new agreement between the people of Wales and our farmers and landowners.
The framework of the Universal Actions, with the ability to build to the Optional and Collaborative Actions, responds to the ask from the farming community and other stakeholders. This framework will provide stability whilst helping farm businesses to be more resilient.
We have maintained the budget of £238 million for 2026 to encourage as many farmers into the SFS, so they can start to realise the benefits as soon as possible.
We are clear that our climate and nature commitments will only be met if there is substantial uptake of the Optional and Collaborative Actions, prioritised to drive positive environmental change and improved farming efficiency. The earlier and greater the uptake, the earlier we will see the benefits from Optional and Collaborative Actions at scale.
This is why we are committed to further shifting the balance of the budget to Optional and Collaborative Actions in subsequent years. We will also continue to develop our understanding of how actions such as protecting our environment contribute to social value and to apply this in the future for Optional and Collaborative Actions.
We’ve listened and made changes to our approach to tree planting, moving away from a blanket requirement towards an approach which incentivises farmers to plant through creating a tree and hedgerow planting opportunity plan, with generous and flexible support for tree and hedgerow planting available in the Optional Layer. We are not expecting, nor do we want, farmers to plant up their most productive land – they will decide where to plant, with clear advice and guidance to ensure the right tree in the right place.
Change is never easy and often daunting. This Scheme is a big change from the existing support mechanisms, but it is a change we believe will be good for farming, for food production and for the environment.
I hope the majority of farmers join the Scheme. There will be a Transition Period and BPS available for those not in the SFS, although this will be reduced by 40% next year. This is the same as it would have been had we introduced SFS in 2025. We are prioritising our money on SFS to encourage farmers to join the Scheme and to start benefiting from it.
The Scheme will start on 1 January 2026 but that is only the beginning. We are here to support farmers, farming, and the sustainable production of food for the long term. I am committed to continuing to work collaboratively with all Members of the Senedd to ensure the Sustainable Farming Scheme represents and supports the best of Welsh agriculture, and provides the stability and certainty farmers require to be truly resilient and sustainable.
I will be providing a further update in an Oral Statement to Members of the Senedd this afternoon.