Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme is welcomed by farmers and NGOs

The proposal sets out payments for universal actions, optional actions and collaborative actions that farmers can take on their farm.

Farmers will receive an annual Universal Baseline Payment for undertaking a set of 12 Universal Actions.

Farms who join the Scheme in 2026 (<100ha) will receive £1000 as a one-off stability payment. This, together with a wide eligibility criteria of 550 hours, means the scheme is very worthwhile for small scale growers. Some of the new welsh growers to the Welsh Veg in Schools scheme are planning to use this support as they apply for organic certification.

There are a number of encouraging universal actions that will support farmers to take positive action for the climate and nature, including:

• Every farm must also actively manage at least 10% of its land as habitat and conduct a carbon baseline assessment.
• The requirement to provide an assessment of the application of harmful chemicals, often called Plant Protection Products (PPP), is an impressive step given that the comparable farming scheme in England does not require this data.

Of the optional actions, the SFS will support farmers to convert to organic and give payments for maintenance as well as professional development on organic farming methods, which is a brilliant result.

Particularly notable is a collaborative option that will recognise the role of food partnerships in fostering collaboration. This could open up opportunities for land owners to welcome market gardeners and encourage more mixed use on their farms.

Taking these learnings to Westminster

The English version of SFS, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), was abruptly put on hold for new applications earlier this year to much controversy. And while the SFI has now been reopened for some farmers, albeit with a spending cap, last week's farmer opinion stats from Defra confirm that farmer opinion of government remains woefully bleak with a high proportion of farmers in England (44%) saying they don’t understand Defra’s vision for farming. Bridging the Gap's Hannah Gibbs said:

"We welcome the proposals from Welsh government which sets a precedent for taking decisive positive action for climate and nature, Westminster would do well to take note of this."

New actions in the Welsh SFS, such as the support for farmer led collaboration, support for conversion to organic and assessment of the application of harmful chemicals, are ambitious and currently lacking in the limited in SFI for England.

The Universal payment is open to farmers who have 3 hectares OR do 550 hours work. The addition of 550 hours work for eligibility is very significant as this will widen participation and enable access to payments for growers and market gardeners who are frequently below the 3 hectare threshold.

Sustainable Farming Campaign's Gina Edwards commented on the proposals:

“There’s a lot of positives to take away from the Sustainable Farming Scheme for Wales. Given DEFRA is in the process of redesigning the Sustainable Farming Incentive for England, and is putting together the Land Use Framework and 25-year Farming Roadmap we hope they take a similar stance and create opportunities for agroecological businesses to thrive – particularly horticulture.”

Farmers, as well as citizens, now need clarity on how Westminster intends to support the sustainable production of healthy food. Pressure is on to deliver a clear and compelling land use framework, food strategy and a roadmap for farming all due in the coming months.

For more detail on the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme read Nature Friendly Farming Network's summary