As we approach the 2026 Senedd election, the Countryside Alliance invited party leaders to write an article for our website setting out their party’s vison for rural Wales. We have invited Welsh Labour, Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, Reform, the Green Party and the Welsh Liberal Democrats. At the time of writing we have only received responses from Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and Reform.
Here is the response from the leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar:
Rural Wales is the backbone of our nation. It sustains our economy, preserves our culture and language and produces the food that feeds us all. Yet for too long, rural communities have been overlooked, overregulated and undervalued by those in power.
As we approach the next Senedd election, the choice is clear: continue with policies that undermine our countryside, or back a vision that puts farmers, food production and rural prosperity first.
The Welsh Conservatives have always stood firmly behind our farmers and we always will. Without them, there is no food security, no thriving rural economy, and no future for many of our communities.
Unfortunately, recent policies from Labour and Plaid Cymru have placed unprecedented pressure on the agricultural sector. The so-called Sustainable Farming Scheme risks reducing food production, threatening jobs and damaging the viability of family farms. At the same time, Labour’s Family Farm Tax threatens to break up generational businesses that have sustained rural Wales for decades.
This approach is not only short-sighted, it is deeply damaging.
We need a reset. That is why the Welsh Conservatives will deliver a Growth Strategy for Welsh Agriculture, designed to support farmers, strengthen food security and grow the rural economy.
We will boost the farming budget by an additional £100 million over the next Senedd term, ensuring farmers have the support they need to invest, innovate and thrive. We will replace the current Sustainable Farming Scheme with a new, food security-first approach, recognising that producing high-quality food must remain the primary purpose of agriculture.
We will also take a more practical, evidence-based approach to regulation. That means scrapping the blanket Wales-wide Nitrate Vulnerable Zone and replacing it with a targeted catchment-based system that reflects local conditions. It means ending the rigid “farming by calendar” rules that ignore the realities on the ground. It also means following the science when tackling bovine TB, using all available tools to protect livestock and livelihoods.
Backing rural Wales also means backing rural businesses. We will promote Welsh food and drink, ensure honest labelling so consumers can support local producers, and reform public procurement rules so more Welsh produce is used in our schools, hospitals and public services. Local authorities should be supporting Welsh farmers and producers, not shipping frozen chicken from Thailand and China to feed our children.
Using locally sourced Welsh produce would strengthen farm incomes, support rural jobs, shorten supply chains and give councils greater confidence in quality, animal welfare and traceability.
At the same time, we recognise the growing challenges facing those who live and work in the countryside. Farm crime and tool theft are on the rise, placing additional strain on already stretched businesses. We will work closely with the UK Government and police forces to crack down on these crimes and protect rural communities.
But this is about more than policy, it is about respect. Respect for the people who rise early, work long hours and care for our land. Respect for the communities that keep the Welsh language alive and respect for the vital contribution rural Wales makes to the wellbeing and prosperity of the whole nation.
The Welsh Conservatives believe in a countryside that is not only protected, but empowered, where farmers can farm, businesses can grow, and young people can see a future for themselves in the communities they call home.
That is the vision we are offering: a thriving, confident rural Wales at the heart of a stronger, more prosperous nation.
Darren Millar is the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd and Member of the Senedd for Clwyd West.