Latest for farmers in Wales from Welsh Government

On 1^st April Lesley Griffiths the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs published a press release stating that there are a series of emergency measures to support Welsh farmers during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. The headlines being :-

1. Farmers will have an extra month to submit their Single Application Form (SAF), with the deadline now extended to 15 June.
2. They are removing the Crop Diversification requirements completely for BPS 2020.
3. £5.5m has been allocated to the BPS and Glastir 2019 support scheme which will re-open from 1^st April to support those farmers who are yet to receive their 2019 BPS and/or Glastir payments.  Farmers will be able to apply for support through the scheme to alleviate potential cash flow problems.
4. A new FarmWell Wales resource has been launched with useful information and advice to help keep farm businesses and farmers resilient and plan positively for the future.
5. They have published guidance for a co-design programme to explore the proposals from the Sustainable Farming and our Land consultation. The Government states they will work with farmers and land managers to explore some of the proposals included in the consultation.

Also, Welsh Government’s Co-design for a Sustainable Farming Scheme for Wales will be conducting a farmer survey and registration for one to one discussion will be available until 30^th May 2020. Further details can be found here.

A response to the Sustainable Farming and our Land consultation will be published later in the year.