COLUMN: Royal Welsh “cornerstone” of Mid Wales rural life

The Royal Welsh Show is the cornerstone of welsh culture and rural life. Like many others, I enjoyed chatting and meeting with people at the Show last month.

Mid Wales has many small food and drink producers, and the show was a good time to meet with them and have discussions with the sector about an event I’m holding in the Senedd later in the year, to celebrate the best of Montgomeryshire producers.

The Welsh farming sector employs around 50,000 people on our farms, with around 230,000 also employed across the entire food and drink supply chain. In addition to this for every £1 of public money invested into farming, £9 is delivered back to the Welsh economy. Farming output is valued at over £2.2 billion annually, and the Welsh food sector is worth £9.3 billion to Wales’s economy.

Last month, the Welsh Government published further information, including payment rates and details of the transition, for the Sustainable Farming Scheme. This will be the primary source of Government support for Welsh farming starting in 2026.

There are aspects of the Scheme that can be cautiously welcomed. The decision to slash Basic Payment Scheme support to 60% of current levels in 2026, with further reductions expected in future years, will put enormous pressure on an already struggling sector. This issue was the top topic of conversation when I met with representatives of both Farming Unions at the Show.

Other issues discussed included the Welsh Government decision to not align with England from July 1, 2025 in regard to Bluetongue policy, a decision which is already costing the Mid Wales economy significantly.

Turning to the UK Government’s inheritance tax changes, I believe this will lead to the breakup of family farms. Many families will simply have to sell off parts of their farm, making the business less viable. To reiterate, rural economies depend on the farming industry. The consequences of family farms dwindling away is that we will become more reliant on food supplied from outside the UK. This is of course a matter for the Westminster Parliament but I have raised it in the Senedd also.

To support our farming businesses and rural communities, the UK Government must scrap the family farm tax and ensure trade deals protect Welsh farmers. The current and the next Welsh Governments must ensure there is a properly funded Welsh Farming Scheme with food security at its heart, commit to the eradication of Bovine TB, scrap the-all Wales nitrate vulnerable zones, and change public procurement rules to promote Welsh produce and protect the agricultural budget.

I am pleased that the farming sector has the support of the public, many of whom are not linked to the industry. This support needs to be maintained, and it is incumbent on both the farming sector and politicians like me who fully support the industry’s calls, to underline exactly why we need to back our farmers.  We need policies that work for Rural Wales, not just ones that sound good on paper in Cardiff Bay.