Mr Jones told the audience at NFU Cymru Conference, being held at the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells on Thursday 6 November, that the government formed after next May’s elections must provide a budget spanning the duration of the next Senedd to provide Welsh farmers with long-sought-after stability and security.
His comments follow Welsh Government’s draft budget announcement made on Monday 3 November, where funding for the incoming Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) was maintained at the same level as for the previous Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and other rural investment and environmental schemes – a move that has been welcomed by NFU Cymru. Now NFU Cymru President Aled Jones asks the next government to build on this pledge with a robust, ongoing funding commitment.
Commitment for long-term funding
Taking to the lectern at this year’s conference, the President said: “We need a commitment to a long-term budget that provides stability to Welsh farming and helps to ensure Welsh farming can continue to deliver for food, nature, climate and communities.
“We recognise the role the Deputy First Minister has played in securing the budget for the SFS in 2026 and for committing to the current BPS budget of £238m for the universal layer of the scheme, with an additional £102m for the optional and collaborative layers. This has helped provide much-needed stability to Welsh farming as we enter the transition period. Going forward, we look to the next Welsh Government to commit, as a minimum, to maintain the 70:30 split between the universal and the optional and collaborative layers.
Multi-annual budget
“We are asking for the next government to deliver a multi-annual agriculture budget for the length of the next Senedd. We believe the totality of the budget should increase to recognise inflation and the ambition that we have for Welsh farmers to be world leaders in the productions of climate friendly food, growing our markets at home and abroad against a backdrop where our nature and rural communities are thriving.”
Mr Jones told the conference that the recent Caerphilly by-election has ‘well and truly fired the starting gun’ for the 2026 Senedd Elections. He outlined the lobbying priorities from the union’s election manifesto, launched during Welsh Farming Week in June this year, which NFU Cymru is bidding to see implemented into the next programme for government. These priorities include a comprehensive farm to fork food strategy; a genuine TB eradication strategy; a proportionate, targeted and evidence-led approach to water quality; and an independent review of regulation.
Family farm tax
The NFU Cymru President also used his conference speech to state the union ‘will not stop’ in its fight against the family farm tax. He reiterated that the UK Government’s changes to inheritance tax reliefs will disproportionately affect family farms and that the Chancellor should reconsider important mitigations proposed by independent experts.
The annual NFU Cymru Conference once again welcomed an impressive line-up of speakers offering insight and opinion from across the sector and allied industries. Those who appeared at the event include Karen Betts OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Food & Drink Federation; Sarah Bradbury, Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Grocery Distribution; Francie Gorman, President, Irish Farmers' Association; Dr Peter Noy, Director, Food Systems Institute, University of Nottingham; and Dr Jac Larner, Lecturer in Politics, Cardiff University. The event will also feature an address from Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs.