What discussions has the Minister had with farming unions concerning efforts to incentivise more young people into rural industries?
I have convened numerous stakeholder working groups to consider the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals through the lens of new entrants, tenant farmers and common land graziers. NFU Cymru and FUW sit on all of these groups.
The new entrants group is also attended by other representatives from agricultural colleges, CLA, Wales YFC and the RWAS Leadership Programme. The group is exploring the main barriers to new entrants entering the farming industry such as access to land, finance and skills, and potential solutions for overcoming them.
Most recently, we have run the Young People into Agriculture scheme which offered £40k to successful individual young farmers or new entrants taking over a majority share of the business. The scheme supported just under 150 young farmers. We are also running the Small Grants - Horticulture Start Up scheme for new entrants into the horticulture sector, whether existing farmers or new ventures.
Additionally, the Agriculture Advisory Panel, through its Skills Development and Training Sub Committee, takes an active interest in the training offer for young entrants, as well as promoting agricultural awareness in mainstream education