Oxford Farming Conference: Opening speech by Minister Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths

It is a rare, but welcome thing, to see all of my Ministerial counterparts from the different UK Governments all together to speak to you today.

The various challenges of the pandemic, leaving the EU and planning for a recovery have affected us all in different ways and each Government has had to introduce its own rules and guidance.

It is tempting after a year like we have just faced to be negative, to focus on the problems. But I do not want to do that today.

Today I want to look to the future with a message of hope.

Hope that the vaccine, already being administered to the vulnerable in our society, will enable business to recover but also allow us to see friends and loved ones once more.

Hope that our new trading relations with the EU will be successful and if not, any losses incurred by farmers will be made right by the Westminster Government, as we heard promised since the referendum.

And hope that we can use the opportunity we have now, to make real and long lasting improvements. Especially in the way we work with the farming industry in Wales. Moving to a system that is sustainable for the industry, the economy and the environment.

Before Christmas I laid a Whitepaper before the Senedd which sets out a series of proposals paving the way for an Agriculture (Wales) Bill.

Leaving the EU has disrupted many things, forcing us to look for solutions and opportunities. One of these is the chance to develop a system of agricultural support tailor-made for Wales. 

I want to support Welsh farmers to thrive, produce sustainable food and contribute to tackling the climate emergency.

I see this as providing a framework to support the development of agriculture and forestry in Wales for the next fifteen to twenty years. It will provide much needed financial support to farmers, as well as giving us a simplified, coherent and fair system of regulation across the whole agricultural sector.

It will replace the current Basic Payment Scheme with a Sustainable Farming Scheme. Placing a proper value on the environmental support farmers deliver. Crucial and often overlooked work that farmers carry out on our behalf, like: improving soils; stopping pollution; and ensuring that we all have clean air, clean water and improved biodiversity.

This will not only ensure the future of sustainable food production, but work to tackle the Climate Emergency.  

In Wales we this very seriously, I am proud that we were the first Parliament in the world to declare a Climate Emergency and since this time we have enshrined our environmental obligations in law, to ensure we leave a prosperous, greener and more equal Wales to the future generations.

Farming is of course hugely important in Wales, not only does it contribute so much to our economy but much of our rural communities are bound up with it to some degree; and of course our farming community is the biggest speaker of the Welsh language. 

They are custodians of our beautiful landscape, guardians of our environment and are critical in preserving our culture and ancient language.

Therefore, the support that we provide to farmers has to cover more than just land ownership and food production.  Our new Welsh scheme will be very different to what we have had before. The money available to farmers will now be linked to the actions which an active farmer undertakes.

This will ensure active farmers who are working to benefit the environment are fairly rewarded.  We will support farmers to understand what we’re seeking and what action will be required on farm to receive this future income stream.

However, we can only use the funds we have. The recent spending review was very disappointing for Wales. Westminster is providing £242 million in replacement funding for BPS and Rural Development Programme for 2021. This falls well short of the Welsh Government’s expectations.

We were told again and again that Wales would not be any worse off due to leaving the EU. We consider this settlement to be much worse.

If the UK government makes the funding available it is our intention to continue the Basic Payment Scheme in 2022 while we further develop our proposals.

The existing regulatory framework is overly complex, with rules and regulations contained in lots of different legislation and controlled by different areas of government. This makes it far too difficult for farmers and land managers to understand their legal requirements.   

I plan to create National Minimum Standards for agriculture, putting all agricultural regulations into one piece of legislation and creating a new enforcement regime.

The monitoring of compliance with the National Minimum Standards will be smarter and more streamlined than existing arrangements.

For example, we are working to safely remove existing barriers to the sharing of data between regulators. This will reduce the need for farmers to provide the same or similar information to multiple bodies, cutting down red tape and speeding up results.

We also want to take advantage of technology to modernise existing data collection methods, using cutting edge technology such as satellite derived earth observation technology.

The mental health and support of farmers is also one of my priorities. I recognise the impact Covid-19 is having on rural communities throughout Wales and I do not want these changes to add any extra pressures where possible.

I am pleased with the support available, such as FarmWell Wales and the Wales Farm Support Group, which are available to farmers throughout the country, help them and their farm businesses stay strong and resilient through times of change and volatility.

I believe the new system will remove existing negative effects on the mental health and wellbeing of farmers. It will provide a clear understanding of the rules and laws through consolidated regulations and will be supported by user friendly advice and guidance and reducing the administrative burden.  

We understand farmers will need time to adapt to the consequences of living, working and trading outside of the EU. 

Once we have clarity about the level of future funding for agricultural support we will work with stakeholders to develop an appropriate model for transition from BPS to the proposed scheme.   

I will not makes changes though until the new system is ready. The Whitepaper is part of a much wider consultation with Welsh farmers, we have undertaken detailed impact assessments and have confidence in these proposals.

However, we must address the climate emergency, the urgent need to reverse the loss of biodiversity and the need for clean air and water. We can no longer afford to delay our response to these issues

I am passionate that these proposals will create a sustainable and resilient agriculture sector in Wales for future generations, and make vast strides towards our environmental goals in Wales.

With the UK leaving the EU we in Wales also need to focus our efforts on new strategies for promoting our fantastic Welsh produce. I’m very pleased to say Welsh Lamb exports were a great success last year, even during the pandemic. This is something I am focussed on maintaining and building upon.

In a post Brexit world the reputation of Welsh produce for sustainability will be crucial. We are well known in Wales for our animal welfare standards, for our non-intensive production and for our low-emissions, environmentally focussed farming.  Our target, though, is to be even better. To become a world leader in the kind of low-emission systems that we need to tackle climate change.

Both Welsh and UK Ministers have committed to maintaining high standards as we leave the EU. In addition, my colleagues and I in the Welsh Government have emphasised no future free trade agreements should undermine the high food safety and production standards we have in Wales.

We will need to work closely with other administrations across the UK to understand any divergences in regulation between Wales and other parts of the UK in order to assess whether or not this places Welsh farmers at a disadvantage.

I said at the beginning I wasn’t going to focus on the last year. But it would be very wrong of me not to use this opportunity to thank everyone involved farming, fishing and anyone working in our fantastic Welsh food and drink businesses.

I am proud of the resilience and ingenuity you have shown in responding to these difficult times and am proud of the role Welsh Government has been able to play in supporting you.

Last year we saw how a nation can pull together to protect our food supply, our environment and each other. We saw, and continue to see, a truly team approach to Covid 19, and we must build on this to ensure our recovery leads to a bright and successful future for Welsh agriculture.

Diolch yn fawr, Thank you very much.