Welsh Assembly to replace environmental schemes

The Welsh Assembly Government plans to replace its five existing agri-environment schemes with a new two tier land management scheme to be called GLASTIR. The aim will be to retain spending at around £89 million a year but the money will be better spent. One of the stated benefits from the all-compassing scheme will be to produce mean a reduction in red tape for farmers, lower administration costs and greater environmental benefits. As ever, it remains to be seen whether this utopian ideal can be achieved in practice without reducing the payments available for farmers.

The full Ministerial Statement is available here