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Welsh Government funding schemes in 2025 will focus on preparing for the launch of the Sustainable Farming Scheme in 2026

National Sheep Association policy manager Emma Owen said if the Government was serious about its environmental and food security ambitions, it ‘must invest in the people at the heart of these goals'

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said there are sheep farmers who have 'wholeheartedly thrown themselves into the SFI pilot', whose agreements have now ended with no certainty over continuation into SFI and fears over budget cutbacks

Responding to Defra putting on hold 76 capital grant items, NFU deputy president David Exwood said: "The messaging of this is confusing – farmers and growers are being asked to adopt measures to improve the environment but have been left in the lurch without access to the key grant schemes which will enable them to do this"

Defra confirmed 76 grant items have been impacted. For farmers who have applied for a grant that is temporarily withdrawn, their application will be put on hold and will be contacted early next year

The NFU has expressed ‘extreme concern' to reports the scheme is now unlikely to open until mid-2025

The CAAV said an increase in applications and growing budget pressures has meant Rural Payments Agency has paused offers

A rumoured move in funding towards the Barnett formula would mean a UK Treasury model ‘calculates the amount of block grant each of the devolved nations should receive based on populations'

Tenant Farmers Association said it had been given reassurances from a senior Defra official last week that a decision was imminent

FSA charges are currently discounted according to the number of hours involved so that smaller abattoir businesses, which require fewer hours regulation, receive a greater discount