THE Cabinet Secretary for energy, planning and rural affairs has visited Denbighshire and Flintshire’s major one-day agricultural show to discuss the future of farming in Wales.

Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths visited Denbigh and Flint Show today (Thursday) to meet the farming community and hear their concerns over Brexit.

Following the publication of the Welsh Government’s consultation on its new Land Management Programme in July, the Cabinet Secretary said she timed the end of the consultation period for the end of the year so there was an opportunity to visit Wales’ agricultural shows and engage in dialogue with farmers to help shape the programme’s ‘made in Wales’ approach.

Speaking at the show, the Cabinet Secretary said: “This year’s Denbigh and Flint Show is the last before we leave the EU in seven months.

“It has been a really good day, I have visited the stock lines which is always a highlight and engaged with the farmers as part of our consultation period for the Land Management programme until October.”

AM Griffiths said there has been a “mixed reaction” to Brexit amongst the farming community but says the Welsh Government has a clear vision for the future of farming and that Brexit offers benefits to farmers. “What we want to do is clear: increase productivity and sustainability.”

The Land Management Programme will consist of two large and flexible schemes – the Economic Resilience Scheme and the Public Goods Scheme that will provide targeted investment to land managers and their supply chains, as well as the provision of a new income stream for farmers delivering public goods.

The Cabinet Secretary said: “The Welsh Government will help assist farmers in making business plans and offer advice for land management.

“Brexit gives us an opportunity to make a Wales specific approach that improves on the current devolved agricultural policy; a new approach that would fit with Wales’ culture, farming sector and range of farmland.

“The weather this year has presented unique challenges to Wales with a long wet winter and a dry hot summer and such volatility can be damaging. We need to build a response to these kinds of problems into our planning.

“The end of the consultation period on October was set so that we had the opportunity to attend the summer’s agricultural shows and it has been very beneficial.”