The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Cymru has reaffirmed that tree planting initiatives emanating from newly announced Welsh government grant funding must not hinder farmers’ ability to produce food.
The stance comes after the Welsh government announced £32m of funding for farmers and landowners to plant 86 millions trees by the end of the decade.
As part of the announcement, Welsh government Minister for Climate Change Julie James has launched two new schemes: The Small Grants Woodland Creation Scheme and The Woodland Creation Grant.
In response to the Welsh government’s announcement, NFU Cymru rural affairs board chairman Hedd Pugh said:
“We are still awaiting further detail of the schemes and how they will operate in practice, how the funding will be allocated between them and over what time period, as well as what the payment rates will be.
“Without that detail it’s very difficult to comment on whether this scheme will deliver the outcomes Welsh government wishes to see.
“With the growing rise in costs of tree planting and fencing out woodlands, payment rates will need to properly reflect these costs – something which hasn’t happened in recent years.
“We welcome the fact that the announcement refers to simplifying funding for farmers, which needs to address the union’s long held concerns around the administrative burden associated with access to and compliance with previous grant schemes.
“Many farmers are receptive to the notion of increasing tree cover at an appropriate scale on areas that they identify as their less productive land.
“We hope that these schemes will make it easier for farmers to do this. NFU Cymru is clear that approaches to increase tree cover in Wales should not impact our ability to produce food and properly safeguard our communities, culture and language.”
