Gian Marco Currado, Director of Rural Affairs at the Welsh Government, addressed NFU Cymru members at the annual Brecon & Radnor County Conference recently.

At the meeting, which was held on Monday, February 3 at The International Pavilion, Royal Welsh Showground, Mr Currado addressed members about a number of issues including the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), water quality regulations and animal health.

He explained to members the work that had been going on behind the scenes in terms of the SFS and that the Deputy First Minister was heavily involved in these discussions.

Mr Currado told members about a number of things that had changed within the SFS proposals following the consultation last year which included a reduction in the number of Universal Actions, the removal of the 10 per cent trees requirement and that there would now be a scheme target, instead of a per-farm target.

Looking ahead to the next six months, he said that the Welsh Government is currently working on an impact assessment and economic analysis of the scheme which will go back to the roundtable once completed, before the Deputy First Minister makes a final decision. He said this will culminate in a final scheme design, which will hopefully be released in the summer. He said they have always said they want to give farmers as much notice as possible to get to grips with the asks in the scheme and the deadline to join the scheme in 2026 will be the SAF deadline.

Mr Currado told members in attendance that we are currently in a preparatory phase and this includes a suite of schemes that provide predictability and stability and an idea of some of the practices and requirements that will be within the SFS.

Moving on to discuss water quality regulations, he said that we are currently in the middle of a four yearly review which has to be concluded before the end of March. Once this is completed by Independent Chair, Dr Susannah Bolton, the Welsh Government will announce next steps.

Finally, when discussing the animal disease picture in Wales, Mr Currado discussed avian influenza and the imposed AIPZ order. He said they are reviewing the requirements and watching closely. He also mentioned the isolated case of foot and mouth disease in Germany and again said they are watching this very closely. He reminded members in the audience of the importance of biosecurity and keeping these diseases out.

NFU Cymru President Aled Jones also addressed the conference, providing members with an update on the union’s lobbying work across a number of areas.

NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor County Chairman Rob Powell said: “We are extremely grateful that Gian Marco Currado took the time to come and speak with us at our recent county conference.

“It was good to receive an update on the SFS scheme and to highlight to Gian Marco the areas where we believe further changes need to be made to the scheme before the final proposals are published this summer.”