Welsh uplands to get biggest slice of CAP cash

Farmers in Wales’ most challenging countryside are to get priority to join the highest level of the Glastir agri-environment land management scheme and share in a bigger pot of money.
Upland farmers, who have lobbied the Welsh government for a dedicated government support system, will get preference to join the Glastir Advanced scheme and access additional funding the Welsh government intends to allocate to the scheme.
The support forms part of a series of measures announced by the Welsh government on Tuesday (17 June) as part of its Glastir review.
See also: Revamps plans for Glastir scheme
In the past, Welsh upland farmers received additional CAP payments in line with the European Union’s less-favoured area (LFA) definition, but the Welsh government stopped these payments in 2012.
The Welsh government intends to dedicate a significant part of the £953m rural development programme budget for the next six years to Glastir. This funding comes in part from the Welsh government’s decision to take 15% from the direct payment of every farmer in Wales.
If the EU Commission approves the proposals, farmers would no longer need to join Glastir at the basic entry level to gain access to Glastir Advanced.
There will be a new, stand-alone grant to give greater freedom to farmers who only want to carry out environmental projects on part of their farms.
Wales’ farm minister Alun Davies said Welsh woodlands will also benefit from the review because new woodland planting schemes will be accelerated and money set aside to monitor the spread of tree diseases.
Mr Davies insisted his proposals would help ensure Wales benefits from a thriving natural environment, a strong rural economy and vibrant countryside communities. “We will strengthen the resilience of Welsh agriculture by investing in farms that seek to be both professional and profitable while respecting and protecting Wales’s natural environment,’’ he said.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed the Welsh government’s proposals. Its land use and parliamentary committee chairman, Gavin Williams, said: “The union has called for many of the proposals within the document over a number of years and the introduction of greater flexibility into the scheme will help make it more accessible to a greater number of farmers who have lost 15% of their single farm payment to help finance RDP measures.”