Budget cuts

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveils a 'mixed bag' budget for farmers as General Election nears

CLA Cymru said it worked out at a '12.9 per cent reduction in the rural affairs budget', hollowing out around £50 million in support for farming. But the Welsh Government said Basic Payment Scheme payments would be maintained at £238m for 2024

He said the cull would continue in the short term, adding there was enough reason to see it was a way of ‘preventing transmission'. But he added it was not a ‘sustainable answer to the problem' and wanted to work with farmers to develop the cattle vaccine

A group of Welsh farming and environmental organisations have written a letter to the First Minister, asking for budgetary certainty for the rural affairs portfolio ahead of draft budget being published later this month

In a letter sent to the First Minister, NFUS president Martin Kennedy highlighted a series of 'hollow promises', received from both the previous and current deputy first ministers, that withdrawn money for agriculture would rightly be returned to the sector

Mr Drakeford said ‘no single part of the Welsh Government can regard itself as immune', including agriculture

Industry leaders give their views on how agriculture stands following the latest fiscal announcement

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said his new budget was designed to 'turbo charge' the economy

All eyes are now on the Welsh Government to continue the stability of payments for Welsh farmers going forward. Future financial certainty being questioned now more than ever following the cuts made to the rural affairs budget