Throughout the summer months we have spent time meeting with MSs and MPs up and down the country, whether that is on farm or at county shows, which allowed us to continue to raise a number of issues affecting farmers across Wales.

Firstly, the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) has been a big part of NFU Cymru’s work for the last few years. Analysis of the consultation responses from earlier this year, over 6,700 of which came from NFU Cymru, pointed to a large number of concerns from the agricultural community including the complexity of the scheme, a desire for a focus on food production, a clear opposition to the woodland requirements and the additional strain and burden it could place on farmers.

We therefore welcomed the decision taken by Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies in May of this year to introduce a new timeline for the scheme, maintaining the BPS for 2025, and committing to a programme of meaningful engagement through partnership working with the industry.

We were also able to raise our asks around the upcoming UK Government autumn budget. Welsh agriculture needs a support budget whose real terms value has been restored to account for inflation and to help ensure that our ambitions in relation to food, climate and nature can be met.

Another issue that remains one of the most pressing topics affecting rural Wales is bovine TB. This disease continues to place considerable stress and emotional and financial strain on farmers and their families. TB is a complex disease, which we believe must be tackled in a holistic manner, which in our view means tacking it in both cattle and wildlife. NFU Cymru continues to call for a comprehensive eradication strategy that deals with the disease wherever it exists.

The NFU Cymru TB Focus Group has been in place for three years now and continues to look at ways to reduce the impact TB has on members without risking disease control.

Finally, we were able to raise issues around water quality regulations. Farmers take their environmental responsibilities very seriously and we recognise the role that farmers have to play in contributing to improving water quality where the evidence shows this is needed.

However, we are clear that the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations 2021 are not fit for purpose and are resulting in significant impacts to farm business viability and farmers health and well-being. We are therefore pleased that the Cabinet Secretary has appointed an independent chair to review the effectiveness of the regulations. To help inform NFU Cymru’s input into this review, a Water Quality Review Group was established in May, which is chaired by NFU Cymru Ceredigion member, Martin Griffiths. We have also launched a survey on the regulations and would encourage all members to visit the website to complete this.