The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed an extension to funding for Glastir agreements, further investment through the Sustainable Production Grant and the continuation of the Farm Business Grant.

[aoa id=”1″]FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “The clarity as to where available funding will be spent to 2021 is welcome.

“Further contract extension for those in various Glastir schemes will provide additional stability at a time of extreme uncertainty, while continuation of the Farm Business Grant will allow individuals to make important investments to improve farm viability.”

Mr Roberts also welcomed additional funding for Sustainable Production Grants, but warned that disproportionate regulations would undermine the positive impacts of such funding.[/aoa]

“The allocation of funding which would fund works to mitigate problems is very welcome, but Welsh Government must be careful not to introduce draconian blanket rules at the same time to address problems on a tiny proportion of Welsh farms.”

Such a move would be counteractive and economically damaging, said Mr Roberts.

“The £16 million allocated towards sustainable production is really good news, so it’s important that it’s targeted at those small areas where there are real difficulties.

“Blanket rules would cause real problems in vast areas where there are no issues, and we need to use funding and all the tools available – especially voluntary approaches – in an intelligent and targeted way,” he added.