NFU Cymru leaders have said they will not join the Welsh government’s new Sustainable Farming Scheme based on the current proposals for the support scheme.
The union's president Aled Jones and deputy president Abi Reader have made the announcement, saying it echoed the viewpoint of many farmers in a variety of sectors across Wales.
Earlier this month, the Welsh government published an update on the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) proposals in its co-design response.
That update reaffirmed that participation in the universal tier of the SFS remains dependant on farmers having 10% tree cover and 10% habitat cover on their holdings.
The Welsh government has set ambitious tree planting targets of 43,000 hectares by 2030, with 180,000 hectares by 2050.
NFU Cymru had previously warned that many farmers would not be able to meet this threshold, alienating them from the new support scheme.
And others have said they could not justify giving 10% of their land over to tree planting given the impact this would have on their productive capacity and business viability.
Now Mr Jones and Ms Reader have stated their frustration that the scheme proposals "are not going to work for their businesses and many others across Wales".
Mr Jones said: “Welsh government’s 10% tree cover targets present a very real barrier to scheme participation, my own farm included.
"With pressures to maximise land area to meet the nitrogen limit requirements of the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations, I simply do not have the additional land to spare for 10% tree cover.”
Ms Reader added that farmers "remain in the dark" over the level of incentive the Welsh government proposes for the scheme, with payment rates not yet published.
Ms Reader said: "We fear that payment rates are not likely to reflect the reduction in land values associated with tree planting - in effect a permanent land use change.
"Would Welsh government expect any other sector to undertake an activity that could devalue an asset, in our case productive agricultural land, by up to 80% of its value?
“Welsh government must recognise uptake of the scheme by farmers is going to be central to the delivery of its climate and nature ambitions."
The final consultation on the SFS scheme is due to be published later this year, with the final scheme announced in 2024 for implementation in 2025.
