FARMERS in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd face a “perfect storm” of cuts to their incomes following controversial plans to scrap basic farm payments, according to the local MP.

Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts has warned that farming communities in her constituency face a severe hardship as the Welsh Labour government push ahead with their new agricultural proposals.

Concerns have been expressed that many farmers will be exempt from the new payment scheme, losing all the help they have previously relied on to survive.

This will be compounded by the “disastrous impact” Brexit will have on the rural economy, leading to fears that this cumulative set of circumstances could put many local farmers out of business.

The Welsh Government has said the changes are in line with a “rapidly moving trading environment”.

Mrs Saville Roberts is pressing for the continuation of the basic farm payment scheme and urging the Welsh Labour government to replicate arrangements in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the EU, where farmers will maintain access to the payments.

She recently met members of the Farmers Union of Wales in Dolgellau to hear about their concerns.

She said: “Having been in contact with farmers in my constituency, I am deeply concerned about Welsh Labour Government plans to replace the basic farm payment scheme with the yet untested Land Management Programme at a time when the industry faces up to the realities of a post-Brexit rural economy.

“This new scheme being consulted on raises several potential problems and many farmers will be denied the necessary support due to a new eligibility criteria, meaning they will lose out on help which has served as a backbone to their business.

“In 2016-17, 51 per cent of Welsh farmers made a loss or would have made a loss had it not been for the basic payments. And this figure is far higher in Meirionnydd as farmers are more reliant on support due to the difficult terrain.

“Recognising the crisis that this represents, both Scotland and Northern Ireland are continuing with the payments, and farmers throughout Europe will also get them, having had the payments ring-fenced in response to the prospect of economic instability following Brexit.

“Welsh Government is going in precisely the opposite direction – destabilising one of our key industries at a time when it desperately needs some financial security.”

Huw Jones, Meirionnydd county executive officer for the FUW, said: “We are always grateful to Liz Saville Roberts for taking the time to meet us and listening to our concerns.

“This is the biggest shake-up of farm support for over a generation and the proposed changes could have a detrimental, and indeed cataclysmic, effect on the farming industry and rural economy.”

In response to her claims, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We have always been clear that maintaining the status quo is not an option because it does not help farmers adapt to the challenges of a rapidly moving trading environment.

“Whether we like it or not, the UK will leave the Common Agricultural Policy next year – that is a certainty.

“However, we have sought views on the nature of the transition period and future support and no decisions have yet been made.

“We need to design the best system for farm support in Wales and that is what we have been consulting on. Our proposals for a new Land Management Programme aim to keep farmers on the land, protect our rural communities and ensure the industry thrives in a post-Brexit world.”