Powys politician ‘bitterly disappointed’ after motion to scrap Sustainable Farming Scheme, fails

Brecon and Radnorshire Senedd Member James Evans is bitterly disappointed that Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru have voted against a Welsh Conservative motion to scrap the Sustainable Farming Scheme.

The Welsh Conservatives brought forward a debate regarding the negative impact that the SFS has on farms and farmers across the country. 

The Welsh Conservatives intend to scrap the SFS and implement its own Welsh Farming and Countryside Scheme, if they get into power at the Senedd.

Under the current SFS, the data predicts that 56,000 Welsh livestock numbers would be lost, along with almost 1,200 jobs and a loss in farm business income of over £76m.

This is before taking into account other factors like the UK Labour’s changes to Inheritance Tax relief which could hit many Welsh family farms together with ongoing pressures like TB and emerging diseases like Bluetongue.

If elected in May 2026, a Welsh Conservative Government would provide an extra £100m for farmers over the next Senedd term, provide a scheme that holds food security and production at its heart and secure the Baseline payments.

James has consistently and passionately campaigned for the rights and protection of farming across Brecon and Radnorshire. The union’s calls for ‘economic stability’ (NFU) and the SFS’s ‘possible impacts remain concerning’ (FUW) echo in the Welsh Conservatives proposal to scrap the scheme.

Commenting after the debate, Welsh Conservative Member of the Senedd for Brecon and Radnorshire, James Evans MS, said: “The Welsh Government’s disregard for Welsh livestock numbers highlights a significant risk to food security. 

“The predicted data suggesting a loss 56,000 animals is shocking and comes on top of already falling livestock numbers in Wales.  

“Welsh Labour’s SFS will cost jobs, break up family farms, and hit the Welsh economy significantly! On top of this comes the double whammy of UK Labour’s disastrous Family Farm Tax and industry pressures like TB and Bluetongue.

“Only the Welsh Conservatives are the true friends of farming and our rural areas.  The Welsh Labour Government and Plaid Cymru voted against scrapping the SFS.

“When I was the Shadow Cabinet Minister for Rural Affairs, I was proud to launch our own version for support to farming (WCFS).  This called for more flexibility, dropping of tree planting targets, increased baseline payment to give stability in the long term, fewer universal actions and many more asks.   

“The Welsh Labour Government has listened to our calls and adopted some of our asks, but the finished version of SFS is still a long way from where it needs to be, it does not protect food protection and food security and leans far too heavily on the environmental aspects.  

“It has taken over 7 years to get to this version of SFS and still we are expecting huge losses in livestock numbers, 1163 jobs on Welsh farms lost and £76.3million lost in farm business income. 

“This is why the Welsh Conservatives brought forward the motion today to scrap the SFS scheme and bring forward a scheme that works for farmers, places food security and production at its core.”

The motion debated on Wednesday proposed that the Senedd:-

1.Regrets that the Welsh Government’s economic impact assessment to the Sustainable Farming Scheme published on 30 September 2025 will result in an estimated:

a) 56,000 Welsh livestock numbers lost;

b) 1,163 jobs on Welsh farms lost; and

c) £76.3 million lost in farm business income.

 2. Calls on the Welsh Government to scrap and replace the current Sustainable Farming Scheme with a scheme that works for farmers, placing food security and production at its core.