CLA CYMRU concerns at Welsh First Minister’s ‘deeply misleading’ comments ahead unveiling of SFS unveiling
CLA Cymru has expressed concern following a comment by the First Minister IN Senedd questions yesterday suggesting that farming contributes “less than 1%” to Wales’ GDP and “boy are they supported with £250m of funding per annum”.
CLA Cymru believe this framing is deeply misleading and at best fails to reflect the foundational role agriculture plays across multiple sectors of the rural economy and at worst a deep misunderstanding of the rural economy.
Victoria Bond, director of CLA Cymru, said: “This statement risks undermining the months of constructive engagement between Welsh Government and rural stakeholders in developing the Sustainable Farming Scheme. It also reveals a lack of understanding about the structure of the Welsh rural economy.
“Farming may represent a modest proportion of direct GDP, but it is the bedrock of a wider supply chain worth billions. From food processing and exports to tourism and environmental delivery.
“If we reduce agriculture to a line on a GVA chart, we miss its vital function: sustaining 90% of our landscape, underpinning our food security, and delivering the raw materials and stewardship that so much of our national economy depends on.
“We urge all politicians, especially as we approach the 2026 election, to speak to the facts and to the full value of rural Wales.”
Thomas Homfray, vice-chair of CLA Cymru, added: “Assessing value on the basis of GDP is hopelessly reductive – a short-termist, superficial approach that has contributed to many of the crises we now face.
“It also directly contradicts the Welsh government’s own curriculum, where my children have spent the year learning about the critical importance of food production and nature recovery.
“Does the First Minister not see farming and the countryside as essential to the solution? Rural Wales is not a cost centre; it is a strategic asset that delivers value across all fronts.”
CLA Cymru is calling for cross-party recognition of the sector’s real-world contribution ahead of the Royal Welsh Show, where it will formally launch its rural manifesto ahead of the 2026 elections: THIS IS RURAL
The manifesto includes six evidence-based asks to support the next Welsh government in unlocking rural economic potential through farming, land use, housing, tourism, energy and digital infrastructure.
A route to the 74% of electorate who are rural based and the foundation for the next election.
CLA Cymru is the only organisation placed at the heart of all of the rural sectors.