The NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group have visited Cardiff to present its ambition for Welsh farming to elected representatives and officials, including the Deputy First Minister and agricultural portfolio holders.

The day started with a roundtable with Huw Irranca-Davies MS, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs. Members of the group expressed their enthusiasm for the future of Welsh farming but outlined the importance of continuing to evolve the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), taking account of the recent economic modelling and impact assessment. They also highlighted the need for an agricultural budget that is ambitious enough to help deliver growth for Welsh farming and rural Wales.

The group then met with Welsh Government senior officials where discussion turned to diseases such as bTB and Bluetongue and the increasing burden of on-farm regulations. The group was also keen to stress the opportunities within the industry, particularly the benefits of improving education around farming to increase both knowledge of the sector, but also to welcome and encourage the next generation of farmers and growers in Wales.

NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group member Leisia Tudor, farming in Meirionnydd, said: “It was great to meet the Deputy First Minister and his officials today to highlight our ambitions for the sector and to raise the issues that matter most to us as the next generation of farmers in Wales.”

The group then undertook a tour of the Senedd before meetings with leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS, Llyr Gruffydd MS, Plaid Cymru Agriculture Spokesperson and Welsh Conservative Rural Affairs Spokesperson Sam Kurtz MS.

Central to the day’s discussions was NFU Cymru’s Senedd election manifesto, Welsh Farming: Growing Forward. The group shared its vision for the future and highlighted how the asks contained in the manifesto will support them to deliver growth and benefits not only for agriculture and the rural community, but for the whole of Wales. The group highlighted the need for a comprehensive farm to fork strategy and pressed the need for a multi-annual budget that would give the sector stability and to allow farmers to plan ahead.

NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group member Ed Swan from Clwyd said: “We are ambitious about our future, believing there is a huge opportunity to supply more high-quality and healthy food to the market at home and further afield.”

Day two of the trip consisted of a group visit to NFU Cymru Glamorgan County Chair Tom Rees’s mixed livestock and arable farm outside of Cowbridge. Tom is an alumni of the first NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group intake.

NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group member Arwel Jenkins from Carmarthenshire said: “It was really interesting to visit Tom’s farm and see how he operates on the urban fringe, farming only a few miles outside of Cardiff. It was great to see a former Next Gen member succeed in the industry, as well as continue to develop and take on a senior role within NFU Cymru.