Wales’ First Minister, Eluned Morgan MS has repeated concerns voiced by the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) over changes to future funding support rules for Welsh agriculture.

Her comments came as she was questioned by Welsh MPs during a session of Westminster’s Welsh Affairs Committee on Wednesday 12 February 2025.

As part of the session Henry Tufnell, Member of Parliament for Mid & South Pembrokeshire, questioned the First Minister on her thoughts regarding the UK Government’s decision to move towards a Barnett formula-based allocation of agricultural funding for Wales, rather than a needs-based formula that has previously been the case.

Responding to Mr Tufnell’s question, the First Minister claimed the Welsh Government were “not very happy” with the announcement, noting that “it is a huge concern that that has been changed."

The First Minister said Wales has a higher proportion of farmers than other parts of the UK and the new funding formula ”will not recognise that" going forward.

Previously, EU funding for UK agriculture was allocated across the UK nations under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) formula, based on rural and farming criteria such as the size, number and nature of farms. This resulted in 9.4% of the total UK agriculture budget coming to Wales when we were members of the EU.

The UK Treasury’s decision in October 2024 to ‘Barnettise’ the block grant for each devolved nation, a calculation based on population rather than farm and rural characteristics, could however see Wales’ proportion of total UK agricultural funding fall drastically from around 9% to 5%.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has previously warned such ‘Barnettisation’ of agricultural funding could equate to a drop of around 40% in funding for Welsh farming - a cut of around £150m a year.

Responding to the First Minister’s comments, Ian Rickman, Farmers’ Union of Wales President said:

“We welcome the First Minister’s comments, and her concern regarding the significant consequences Barnettisation could have on future farm funding here in Wales.

The FUW has long warned this change in funding fails to recognise the unique characteristics and needs of Wales' farms - and the move towards a population based model could see a drastic fall in Welsh farming's funding from over 9% of the UK's allocation to 5%.

At a time when Welsh farmers are expected to deliver an ever increasing range of sustainability and environmental objectives, while also producing food, there should be a return to the previous allocation formula which better served the needs of the sector here in Wales.”