NFU Cymru has called on the Welsh government to make further changes to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) before farmers have to decide on their next application, saying there were "good, solid reasons" why thousands of businesses stayed out of it in its first year.

Official figures show 8,104 farmers claimed the SFS universal layer in 2026, while 8,038 chose to stay in the declining Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). The SFS replaced the BPS as Wales's main farm support scheme in January, but farmers may remain in the BPS during a transition that runs to 2029.

Speaking at a Farmers Weekly Women in Agriculture Network webinar, union president Abi Reader said the new Welsh government had made an encouraging start but that significant work remained. "We are not many months off the next window. Where are the changes?" she said. She described changes to the Animal Health Improvement Cycle as a step forward but a "token gesture", and said the union had proposed further alternatives.

She listed the requirements still causing problems. The habitat maintenance record (universal action 5) is particularly hard for upland farms, some of which have six or seven habitats in one area, in some cases needing different stocking densities. "How do you manage one block of land seven different ways? It has to reflect reality," she said.

Temporary habitat options (universal action 6) remain a sticking point for lowland farmers because they are too expensive to put in, she said, calling for more, if less perfect, options. Biannual hedge trimming (universal action 8) and the tree and hedgerow planting opportunity plan (universal action 10) also need revising: "Planting 250 trees on a small or tenanted farm is going to be a problem for some farmers."

Reader said recent changes to Wales's water quality regulations showed ministers were prepared to take a more pragmatic approach, but warned them against measuring the SFS against difficulties with farm support elsewhere in Britain, calling that "a very low bar". She gave the new administration an "A minus" so far for its willingness to listen, and said farmers now needed to see that turned into changes before the next application window.

The report is by Farmers Weekly's Anne Dunn.

Photo: Christine Matthews / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: Farmers Weekly