Welsh voters back transition to nature-friendly farming

Polling found that Welsh voters are more than twice as likely to support the transition to the Sustainable Farming Scheme as to oppose it.

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By Alasdair Johnstone

@A_SJohnstone

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Polling commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and conducted by More in Common found that Welsh voters are more than twice as likely to support the transition to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) as to oppose it. Support rose further when the purpose of the scheme was explained to respondents.

The findings also suggest that public awareness of the SFS remains limited, with over half of respondents saying they had not heard anything about the scheme.

The polling indicates that there is broad support in Wales for a shift towards more sustainable and nature-friendly farming, but that greater public understanding of the policy may be needed as implementation progresses.

What is the Sustainable Farming Scheme?

The Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) is the Welsh Government’s replacement for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), under which farmers were paid largely according to the acreage of land they farmed. The BPS is being phased out over a three-year period from 2026 and replaced by the SFS, which is intended to reward farmers for managing land sustainably, supporting biodiversity and wildlife restoration, and helping to address climate-related risks such as drought and flooding. 

This reflects a broader shift taking place across the UK, where older EU-era subsidy systems are being replaced with support mechanisms intended to encourage more sustainable farming practices. 

What the polling shows

The polling found that:

  • 44% of Welsh voters supported the transition to the Sustainable Farming Scheme, while 18% opposed it.
  • 52% of respondents said they had not heard anything about the scheme, indicating relatively low public awareness.
  • Support for the scheme was higher when respondents were given an explanation of its aims: voters were more than 50% more likely to support it when informed about its purpose (44%) than when they were not (28%). 

Taken together, these results suggest that Welsh voters are generally supportive of the principles behind the scheme, but that awareness and understanding remain important factors shaping public opinion. 

Public understanding and support

One of the clearest messages from the polling is that awareness of the SFS is still relatively low. More than half of respondents said they had not heard about the scheme, despite its importance to the future of farming policy in Wales. 

At the same time, support increased when the scheme’s purpose was explained. This suggests that public opinion may be influenced not only by the policy itself, but also by how clearly its aims and potential benefits are communicated. 

Why the transition matters

The Sustainable Farming Scheme is designed to support farmers in a number of areas beyond food production, including biodiversity restoration, climate mitigation, and the use of natural solutions to address risks such as flooding. 

Climate change and biodiversity decline have been identified as risks to UK food security in the Government’s National Security Assessment. In that context, the transition to more sustainable farming practices is framed as part of a wider response to environmental and food system resilience challenges.

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