What are your reflections on your first 100 days in post and the people you've met?
Well, it's been a bit of a whirlwind coming into the post, but very exciting. In this first 100 days I’ve met people in all parts of Wales, in different sectors and different types of farms. I'm very familiar with farming and all its diversity already, but getting out to speak to people has been really quite invigorating, hearing people's views face-to-face, seeing the challenges they have, but also hearing of their views for the future of farming in Wales, as well. What has really stood out for me is the willingness of people to work together in a Welsh way of working - which is we do things together, we face the challenges together, and we head for the high ground together, as well. A lot of what we do is based on good relationships, trust and understanding, and that has been, I have to say, one of the most rewarding facets of the first 100 days, seeing how well those relationships work. I've enjoyed meeting with Aled [Jones], Abi [Reader] and many other representatives of NFU Cymru on my farm visits as well. I'm optimistic that that stands us in good stead for the future.
There's been a change in the title of the portfolio since you've come into post. What can you tell us about the fact that there's been a shift in pairing rural affairs and climate change together?
I think it's a neat combination, but it doesn't mean that the climate change and nature challenges we face are not also shared right across government. In fact, they're deeply embedded now within every Cabinet Secretary's portfolio. That's important, because of the bigger challenges that we have in tackling environmental issues, on our ecosystems and on climate change, as well. Farming is not immune from that, of course, it's going to be part of the solution of how we respond to climate change, but it's embedded now right across government; every single minister has a role to play.
Since you've taken post there have been two big announcements in the rural affairs portfolio. What led you to take those decisions so early on?
When I came into post, I was already very aware of some of the hot topics within this portfolio. I'd come into this portfolio from my work as a committee member on the Climate Change Committee, but also with a lot of engagement with all of the stakeholders out there.
The Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) has been one of the highest responses to any consultation we've ever seen. When we were digesting the full analysis of it, there were some clear issues within it that suggested that we needed to learn from that consultation. Farmers and other stakeholders were telling us about areas where we had very strong agreement, but areas also where there was disagreement or more work was needed.
On that basis, we agreed to move into a preparatory phase for the SFS, where we can work through some of those more tricky areas together with farmers and other stakeholders. I've said that we want to proceed at pace, so we've set up the Ministerial Roundtable. We've had good, productive meetings of those people who share the vision of what we have for the future of not just farming, but land use and facing up to the challenges we have with the environment and with climate change. I've made it clear that we'll progress with the SFS together for the benefit of sustainable farming businesses and the benefit of sustainable food production, as well as those wider environmental challenges.
The other significant announcement we made, of course, was on the establishment of the TB Technical Advisory Group within the first few days of my coming into post. They agreed, because of what we'd heard on farm, that the first item on their agenda would be the issue of on-farm slaughter because we'd heard not only the practical challenges that this provides for farmers and their families, often of animals that are heavily pregnant, but also the mental anguish and the distress that flowed from that. I was very glad that they undertook this as their first item of business, and that they brought forward recommendations very rapidly on a more compassionate, flexible, but evidence-based approach to dealing with on-farm slaughter. I think both of those announcements signal very clearly that we do want to listen and work with farmers, and this has to be the way that we go forward, not just for the next couple of years, but probably for the next decade and the next generation.
What is your vision for Welsh food and farming?
I genuinely think the future for farming and for our food production in Wales is very bright and very exciting if we can create that future together. That future is not going to be what it was under the old Common Agricultural Policy, and certainly not going back to the sort of post-Second World War generations. The challenges we face now are quite different, but they provide us with real opportunities. When I meet with people in the food and drink sector, they always tell me that the big selling point of Welsh produce, domestically and internationally, is based on this concept of Wales being a green and pleasant land and our food is produced to the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental considerations - that's our unique selling point. That is what is gaining us access to those export markets, but also putting more of our produce on the tables of residents from Merthyr to Machynlleth. On that basis, the future for Welsh farming, as we look at redesigning farm support post-Brexit with the future Sustainable Farming Scheme, is the image of food and farming in Wales based on a green, pleasant land, resilient soils and bright, shining rivers. On top of that, there are these really difficult issues about what we need to do with climate change, as well.
Farming is part of the solution to climate change. It's what we can do to work with farmers and help farmers move towards a more climate resilient type of farming, right across all the different sectors, from the uplands to the lowlands, from all types of farming. It’s also about what we can do in terms of carbon sequestration within farms in different ways. Now for me, the future of farming is based on the new challenges we have: post-EU withdrawal, providing certainty and stability that there are good livelihoods within farms of all different types. It's also recognising that the very basis of many parts of Wales is determined by the viability of our farms and farming families, recognising the social value of farming and its contribution to the Welsh language, as well. So it’s about the production of really good quality, nutritious, affordable food, farming in a way that helps us tackle all those big environmental challenges as well, but also delivers living, thriving communities in all parts of Wales. Now for many people, that would sound like an enormous challenge. Actually, I think that's the biggest opportunity we have. If there's one thing that comes back to this Welsh way of working, it’s that if we're all agreed that that's a good outcome, then working together towards that is the right thing to do.
What kind of assurances can you give to our readers and our members around support for farming going forward?
I can give some assurances, and they’re based on our track record. We took the decision, unlike on the other side of Offa’s Dyke, to protect the BPS payments of £238m last year. I think that decision was deliberately taken by my predecessor in post to give some idea of certainty and stability to farmers going through this challenging period. As we go into the preparatory phase for the Sustainable Farming Scheme, we've given that degree of certainty once again, to farming.
I'll be making further announcements in fairly short order on where we are with the ceiling for BPS in 2025. We are subject to the constraints that farmers know very well, which is where the UK Government makes a move, or doesn't make a move, on overall funding. One of my greatest regrets to this day is that the promises that were given by some in UK Government when we came out of the EU that farmers would be given all the money that was due to them, ‘not a penny less’, perhaps even more, were clearly proven to be inaccurate. We've been short-changed significantly by those who've been in UK Government.
However, we will continue to make the argument at all levels that we need to sustain the income into farming going ahead. I think the decisions we've made have been the right ones in recent history, including protecting BPS payments. We share farmers’ concerns about the degree of uncertainty going forward and we'll continue to be making the case that we need not just a viable farming sector now, but also in future so that we can bring in those young entrants, so that we can create the environment where people say, ‘This is this is an industry I want to be in, where I can make a living and I can bring my family up securely’. That's where we need to get to. But I don't underestimate the challenges that are currently out there, but we're trying to do our best with the budget that we've been given.
There has been lots of debate around the role of trees in Welsh Government's policy proposals up to this point. Do you understand the industry's concerns about permanently losing productive farmland?
Yes, we hear those concerns. It's clear from the volume of consultation responses that the issue of trees was one of the standout issues. But there were also some related issues to do with arguments being put forward to explore other areas that could contribute to carbon sequestration on farms, as well. It's probably fair to say as well that there was some degree of misunderstanding during the consultation about what was being proposed, because things had changed since earlier iterations.
There were understandable concerns from tenant farmers about farms where they’re not allowed to touch the woodland or to plant more, so we’re being clear that that is excluded from what we are describing as tree cover. Other arguments were put forward during the consultation about coastal areas that are windswept with high exposure, and that feedback is all being considered. We have established a carbon sequestration evidence review panel, so they can look at all these matters and other evidence-based arguments for other forms of carbon sequestration.
So there's an intelligent approach that we can take towards tree cover within farms and not taking highly productive farmland out. I know that there are many farmers who are actually saying to me, ‘We want the opportunity in the right place, in the right way, to use and extend the woodland and tree cover within our farms for the benefit of our livestock and our food productivity, but also for those wider environmental gains’.
The control of agricultural pollution regulations (2021) are one example of where the administrative burdens associated with demonstrating compliance are completely disproportionate to the outcome. Do you recognise the impact of regulation on farmer well-being and will you commit to an independent review that considers the cumulative burden of regulation on farmers in Wales?
Agricultural pollution is not the only point of pollution within our rivers. We have pollution from development - from house building and commercial building - we have pollution from sewerage and those old Victorian CSOs and discharges. But agricultural pollution does play a significant role, as well.
I'm really pleased that we've got to the point where we are undertaking a four-yearly review of the agricultural pollution regulations and I think it's important we're going to appoint an independent chair for that. I don't want to pre-empt what the outcomes will be, but I'm looking forward to what their assessment is of where we currently are and to see what is working and isn’t working. We already know the challenges that we have on our rivers, and we already know that agriculture has to play its part now in helping us clean our rivers. It is not good for the reputation of farming that we have any rivers that are being damaged by agricultural pollution, and we do have too many. But it isn't only agriculture. We need to tackle this together.
The significant shift in the Habitat Wales Scheme from its predecessor, Glastir, has seen many farmers' income for environmental actions significantly reduced, leaving some to question why they are seemingly being disincentivised for carrying out environmental actions on their farms. What's your view?
I do hear what they're saying. The reality is that we were working then, as we are working now, within the budgetary constraints that we have. I would love to have the money that was promised to us originally. We haven't got it, so we've had to make some really difficult choices. We're trying to give certainty going forward. I am pleased that the take-up of the scheme has been very good.
We've had an increase in the amount of land under management in the Habitat Wales Scheme this year, which was a good outcome. We were keen to make sure the scheme was open not only to Glastir recipients, but also to the wider farming community - and that has been a success. We've tried to make sure, even within those budgetary constraints, that the payments reflect the costs incurred and the income foregone.
But there has been an impact on some farmers. I accept that as well. So yes, it's never ideal when the budget that you're dealing with is not that which was promised to you. I think farmers are understandably aggrieved at that promise being broken by the former UK Government. One of the other things that the Habitat Wales Scheme has enabled us to do is to develop our mapping, which we're now able to actually share with farmers over the course of the summer so we can get more accurate mapping, as there were some concerns from farmers that the mapping was not accurate.
In this spirit of actually working with farmers, what we want to do is share that mapping with them and we can get an accurate picture farm-by-farm, field-by-field, right across Wales. We're keen to draw on the lessons that we've learned from Habitat Wales Scheme. I think the future is going to look very different if we can get this preparatory phase right together with the farming unions and other stakeholders, and then we transition into a scheme that will be fi t, not just for now, but for the future, and for all the multiple challenges we face and also the opportunities that we have within farming.