Farming in Wales: Fears about less government funding

"We really are worried about how we're going to be sustainable going forward."

Katie-Rose Davies says rising costs and reduced Welsh government funding threaten the future of her farm on Bwlch Mountain in Bridgend county, which has kept her family in work for generations.

Farming union NFU Cymru said ministers must protect funding for rural affairs.

The Welsh government said it was "absolutely committed to supporting farmers and rural communities".

In the government's final budget for 2023-24, Rural Affairs was given £482m - about 2% of the total budget.

But last month, after Welsh ministers spent the summer looking for savings, the pot was cut by £37m.

Farming unions have also warned that the Habitat Wales scheme, which will come into force on 1 January to replace the Glastir programme, will lead to a significant reduction in income for many farmers.

Ms Davies said her payments would be cut by nearly half.

The mum of three said she worries "if we can carry on doing what we're doing".

"It's just happened overnight really - there was no warning, there was no stepping down of payments. It's like a bombshell," she said.

The comments come on the eve of the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, which begins on Monday.

Ministers will set out their spending plans for next year on 19 December.

NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader told the Politics Wales programme that if the Welsh government "values" what farmers do it would protect funding for the sector.

"Having come off the back of a cut already we watch with baited breath now to see what Welsh government is going to do," she said.

"We're not asking for any more," she added. "We just want to protect what's there and make sure that farmers throughout Wales can continue to deliver everything that we promise."

Ms Reader said the Habitat Wales scheme, which is due to last 12 months, was a "really good example" of where there had been "quite a bad communication breakdown" between the government and the farming industry.

"It's not a very good omen for going forward," she added.

Plaid Cymru's rural affairs spokesman Llyr Gruffydd said the government's budget would be a "litmus test" of Welsh ministers' commitment to farmers.

"If they don't come up with the goods this time then I think people will be justified in questioning whether actually they are treating different parts of Wales differently."

Sam Kurtz, who speaks for the Welsh Conservatives on rural matters, said: "This is not the time to further cut a budget which is already small.

"This is a time to invest in rural communities, invest in our agriculture community and give them support so that they can continue to be not only custodians of our land in Wales but also the excellent food producers that we know they are."

Alexander Phillips of environmental group WWF Cymru said: "A lot of farmers that are currently pursuing nature-friendly practices for the last 15 to 20 years are currently looking at their balance sheets and going 'I'm not sure this is going to work anymore'.

"That's deeply concerning for us because that will see an overall reduction in the level of environmentally-friendly practices that are taking place in Wales."

The Welsh government said: "We have been very clear we are facing an extremely challenging financial situation, the toughest since devolution.

"We know there are difficult decisions to be made across Welsh government.

"Despite these challenges, we remain absolutely committed to supporting farmers and rural communities throughout Wales."

On changes to the environmental scheme for farmers, the government added that ministers had been "engaging regularly with the unions and others in this challenging financial context".

Politics Wales, BBC One Wales at 10:00 GMT on 26 November and on iPlayer