By Sam Rowlands

MS for North Wales

Recently, there was a big protest at the Welsh Parliament. Thousands of farmers from across Wales, including our area, made their way down to Cardiff in order to make their voices heard against the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and other policies which are damaging farming communities.

The SFS replaces the European Union’s funding arrangement. The Labour Government have designed it so farmers will have to plant trees on 10% of their land, and give over another 10% to wildlife habitat.

That is one-fifth of a farmers’ land set aside just to access SFS funding. Imagine you’re a farmer, and you have prime agricultural land which is used to produce food and make an income for your family. Then the Government forces you to remove 20% of it. If someone came to you and removed one-fifth of your earning potential, you would rightly be angry.

Then there is the issue of Bovine TB. There are no badger culls in Wales to tackle the spread of Bovine TB, which then infects herds of cattle. After testing, those cattle then need to be culled, which causes distress for farmers who care deeply for their animals. It also has a terrible financial impact, with the average cost for a farm impacted by Bovine TB a staggering £25,000.

It doesn’t stop there. Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) impose a harsh regime designed to restrict the spread of fertiliser. Until recently, around 4% of Welsh land was designated as NVZs. Now, Welsh Government have designated the whole of Wales as an NVZ, putting these restrictions on all farmers, regardless of their behaviour.

Remember, without farmers there is no food for any of us. They are guardians of the land in Wales and do it in an environmentally sustainable way. The Labour Welsh Government and their partners in the so-called ‘co-operation agreement’ Plaid Cymru must stop this assault on rural Wales.

If you have any queries or issues, then please feel free to contact me by emailing sam.rowlands@senedd.wales