Video: Farmers put boot into Welsh government farm policy plans
© NFU Cymru NFU Cymru members have given the Welsh government’s future farming policy plans the boot – by placing thousands of pairs of wellies on the steps of the Senedd.
On Wednesday (6 March) – the eve of the closing of the Welsh Labour administration’s consultation on its Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) proposals – 5,500 pairs of wellies were left outside the Welsh parliament building in Cardiff.
Will Welsh Government listen to . @NFUCymru @NFUtweets pic.twitter.com/VF6RsCRO6b
— Gareth Wyn Jones (@1GarethWynJones) March 6, 2024
Each of the 5,500 pairs of wellies represents an agricultural job that is projected to be lost based on 100% take-up of the scheme and figures from the Welsh government’s own impact assessment.
See also: Video: 3,000 Welsh farmers tell government ‘enough is enough’
Welsh Conservative MS and shadow rural affairs minister Samuel Kurtz described the display of wellies as the “most powerful and poignant” protest the Senedd had ever witnessed.
“Empty wellies representing the empty farms and empty communities that will be seen the length and breadth of rural Wales if the SFS goes ahead without some serious and wholesale changes,” said Mr Kurtz.
The latest symbolic protest comes a week after more than 3,000 farmers and rural supporters staged a mass peaceful protest outside the Welsh parliament against anti-government farming policies – the largest protest in the history of the Senedd.
Farmers’ protest outside the Senedd this morning against the Welsh government’s farming subsidy plans. Each pair of boots – about 5,500 – represents a job @NFUCymru say will be lost. The boots will be donated to charity pic.twitter.com/w0VQYjFy6S
— Sarah Mukherjee (@mukherjee_sarah) March 6, 2024
NFU Cymru president Aled Jones praised farmer-members across Wales for their “outstanding achievement” in donating their old, clean wellies for use in the display. The wellies will later be donated to charities in Africa.
‘Major overhaul’ plea
Mr Jones said farmers had made their voices heard and the Welsh government must listen and undertake a “major overhaul” of the SFS “to avoid the shocking scenario highlighted by its own modelling”.
The impact assessment carried out by Welsh government revealed that, as it stands, the scheme would also result in a 122,000 reduction in Welsh livestock units and an 11% reduction across the national flock.
There's no getting away from the wellies down at the Senedd this morning.
Thanks to everyone who donated and to those who got up earlier to create this impactful display.#niywffermiocymru #wearewelshfarming pic.twitter.com/W5VSz81n1q
— NFU Cymru 🚜 (@NFUCymru) March 6, 2024
Farmers are furious about government proposals for the scheme, which would require all farms to devote at least 10% of their land to trees, plus a further 10% for wildlife habitat in order to qualify for public funding.
Many farmers are also angry with the Welsh government’s refusal to cull badgers to tackle bovine TB and its pan-Wales approach to nitrate vulnerable zone regulations.
See drone footage of the display in the video below.