Welsh Farmers should not be left in limbo while agri-environment schemes are reformed.
The National Assembly’s Rural Development Sub-Committee has urged the Welsh Assembly Government to ensure transitional arrangements are in place before they push ahead with any plans to reform their agri-environment and land management schemes.
The Welsh Assembly Government is currently reviewing the way it operates schemes like Tir Gofal and Tir Mynydd because they’ve failed to deliver on their environmental goals such as improving flood management and water quality.
The committee recognises this and supports reform but they want assurances that farmers don’t suffer during any transfer period.
“We believe that any major change to existing arrangements would cause severe disruption to farmers, particularly in the uplands,” said committee chair Alun Davies AM.
“So members want to see a significant lead-in time to any such changes.
“We would like to see the Welsh Assembly Government put some measures in place to improve the ability of the Tir Mynydd scheme to deliver against environmental outcomes.
The committee also recommends the following:
Some amendments should be made to Tir Gofal to ensure that this scheme is also delivering against key Welsh Assembly Government targets.
Any monies that might become available in the future from the discontinuation of Tir Cynnal should be targeted towards realising improvements under the Tir Gofal scheme or the exploration of pilot schemes.
Schemes should aim to provide recognisable outcomes that provide measurable public goods.