£1bn funding package guaranteed for farmers until 2030

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Farmers across Wales will receive a share of £340 million a year until March 2030 after the Welsh Government locked in a multi-year funding deal.

The £1.02 billion package for the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) replaces year-to-year budget allocations, which agricultural groups argued made long-term business planning almost impossible.

Announced at the Royal Welsh Show by Welsh Government minister Llyr Gruffydd, the deal ring-fences £238 million annually for the scheme’s core ‘Universal’ tier. A further £102 million a year will be allocated for optional and collaborative environmental projects.

Under the previous system, agricultural budgets were set on a 12-month basis, leaving holdings across the country uncertain of their future income.

Mr Gruffydd, who is the rural resilience and sustainability minister, said: “Giving farmers only 12 months’ line of sight to funding is not sufficient. We know how hard it is to plan and make business decisions without knowing what funding is coming.

“Farmers told us loud and clear they need certainty and stability – and that is exactly what we are delivering.”

The Welsh Government also confirmed a new round of the Integrated Natural Resources Scheme, which funds group conservation projects among neighbouring farms, will open later this year.

Farmers will also see changes to administrative workloads from 2027, with plans to combine farm assurance paperwork and SFS compliance into a single veterinary visit.

Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates said farmers will welcome the announcement, but said it’s “concerning that Plaid Cymru have decided to keep the funding level for the more environmentally impactful layers of the scheme flat for three years at a time when the need to tackle the climate and nature crisis is only getting more urgent”. 

He continued: “More fundamentally, announcing a billion pounds of future funding poses difficult questions for Plaid Cymru. Just last week they refused to put just a fraction of this sum into additional learning needs, including in future years.

“They will need to explain this to the schools and families supporting children and young people with additional learning needs.”