Elin Jones, local AM for Ceredigion, has described this week’s Welsh Government announcement on the Single Farm Payment exchange rate as bad news for farm incomes.

The exchange rate against the Euro to be used for the coming round of payments has been confirmed as 1 Euro to £0.77730. This represents a fall from 2013, and the poorest exchange rate for farmers since 2007.

Elin Jones, Ceredigion’s Plaid Cymru AM, said: “This is further bad news for farm incomes in Ceredigion and throughout Wales, and comes on top of the Welsh Government’s decision to transfer 15% away from direct payments.

“Having already faced a 44% drop in farm incomes and a substantial cut from the European Union to the Common Agriculture Policy, this 7% drop on the exchange rate further exposes the folly of taking nearly a quarter of a million pounds away from direct payments in Wales. It has made a difficult situation even worse.

“The milk sector in particular is suffering from price volatility and declining incomes, due to issues beyond their control such as the tension in Eastern Europe, the imminent end of milk quotas and the push for increased production in Ireland.

“Plaid Cymru will continue to put pressure on the Welsh Government to ensure as much resources as possible come back to the industry through the proposed Rural Development Programme.”