UNION leaders have met with the new First Minister and outlined the importance of a budget for Welsh farming that will help the sector meets its ambitions for food, nature, climate and communities.

NFU Cymru met with Eluned Morgan, First Minister of Wales alongside Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies.

Top of the agenda was funding for agriculture and progress on the development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme.

Speaking after the meeting, NFU Cymru Deputy President Abi Reader, said: “I was delighted at the opportunity to have an early meeting with the new heads of Welsh Government, an opportunity for NFU Cymru to highlight some of the challenges that Welsh farming currently faces but more importantly the opportunities we have to be world leaders in the production of climate friendly food.

“We are immensely proud to be the cornerstone of a Welsh food and farming sector worth £9.3 billion to Wales, part of a food and drink industry that employs 228, 500 people, 17% of Wales’s workforce, with over 50,000 employed on farm.

“We have an ambition to further grow the sector both in terms of value and jobs, producing high quality, safe and affordable food, growing established and building new markets at home and abroad with Welsh farming being the driving force behind vibrant rural communities.

“Our discussions focussed on securing a multi-year budget for Welsh farming, a budget that, in totality, needs to increase to around £500m annually just to keep pace with inflation. With the Rural Affairs Budget subject to the largest cuts of any Welsh Government department last autumn, it is imperative that this budget is restored, and inflation taken into account when the Welsh Government draft budget is published later this year. Welsh farmers are being asked to deliver more than ever before in relation to food security, nature and climate, government must provide the funding to ensure we can meet our ambitions.”

The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss the Sustainable Farming Scheme, Abi Reader said: “ We very much recognise the commitment being made by the Deputy First Minister to partnership working and NFU Cymru is pleased to be a part of ongoing discussions within the Ministerial Roundtable, Carbon Sequestration Panel and Officials Working Group, it is vital that the outputs of these groups help deliver a scheme that works for all sectors and all farm types.

“We have welcomed the commitment the Cabinet Secretary has made to maintain the BPS for 2025, providing much needed stability and certainty to farmers and all those in the supply chain that rely on Welsh farming for so much of their income. This decision has provided the breathing space to allow for the design of the SFS that must deliver at least the same level of stability for farming, rural communities and the supply chain.

“We cannot get away from the challenges we currently face, but I welcome the willingness to want to work with us on these matters.”