_Reviewing the CLA Political Breakfast at this year’s Royal Welsh Show   

Knight Frank Rural Asset Management sponsored CLA Cymru’s Political Breakfast at this year’s Royal Welsh Show on 24th July. The CLA is the membership organisation for owners of land, property and businesses in rural England and Wales. Approximately 100 delegates, including a mixture of stakeholders, media, landowners, estate managers, farmers, rural businesses and professionals attended. 

CLA Cymru’s David Wynne Finch chaired the discussion with a panel including: 

• Rebecca Williams, CLA Cymru Director
• Ross Murray, Chairman of Rural Asset Management, Knight Frank
• Tim Render, Director of Environment and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government; and 
• John Roberts, Snowdonia based hill farmer and vice – chair of the Snowdonia National Park. 

The Panel opened by setting the case for change – it was commented that the Common Agricultural Policy is insufficiently targeted to realise the benefits available from Welsh land and has not served many farmers well.

The Basic Payment Scheme was criticised for, economically, not doing enough to improve farm productivity or business profitability and, environmentally, for not taking account of wider benefits such as enhancing natural resources or decarbonisation. 

The focus turned to the Welsh Government’s consultation document ‘Brexit and our land: Securing the future of Welsh farming’, which sets out an ambitious vision for the future of farming, forestry and land use, exploring improvements in economic resilience and opportunities to develop new income streams through payment for public goods. 

The consultation proposes to introduce two overarching schemes, available to all: 

• The Economic Resilience Scheme is intended to channel investment into land management and supply chains, in particular to support high quality food production
• The Public Good Scheme will enable ‘land managers’ to be paid for the delivery of outcomes of public benefit for which there are currently no markets. 

The Panel agreed that farmers had a large role to play in delivering against wider public demands and that rural areas would benefit from a ‘public money for public goods’ scheme, through boosted local economies and employment. 

However, not all the delegates were convinced that the consultation proposals alone were sufficient to ensure a vibrant future for the rural economy – developments in other areas and their effect on rural economies need consideration, including: 

• Understanding the future replacements of the current European Structural Funds; and 
• How the planning system in Wales enables development and diversification, ensuring appropriate and future-proof housing and community facilities.

The overall message was that change was inevitable but that it was essential to ensure that farmers could transition, gain new momentum and plan for their long-term future with insight on the requirements of a changing world.