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Farming Today: 07/04/22 The future of farming in Wales and Lump Sum Exit payments

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07/04/22 The future of farming in Wales and Lump Sum Exit payments

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, 07/04/22 The future of farming in Wales and Lump Sum Exit payments

The challenges farmers in Wales are facing and Lump Sum Exit payments.

Farms in Wales face a challenging future according to a new report from MPs. The all party Welsh Affairs Committee points to pressures on farms' economic viability and is calling for more information on companies buying farmland for carbon offsetting schemes. MPs say they ‘recognise the importance of woodland to tackle the climate emergency,’ but ‘that companies could be attempting to “game the system” by investing in farming land to offset emissions’. We speak to the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee and Conservative MP Stephen Crabb.

And we hear from the Minister for Rural Affairs in the Welsh Government, Lesley Griffiths, about Wales' new post-Brexit rural support package worth £227m, which includes funds for farmers to make environmental improvements.

This week we’re talking about leaving farming - and how easy or difficult this can be. One of the government's new ideas for easing the process of retirement in England is the Lump Sum Exit Scheme, due to come online any day now. Some farmers are wary of whether the scheme will work for them; we've been speaking to young farmer Abi Irwin and her dad Michael who are in the process of a family farm handover and who have decided not to go for the Lump Sum scheme.

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced for BBC Audio by Caitlin Hobbs

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07/04/22 The future of farming in Wales and Lump Sum Exit payments

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