Farmers promised flat rate subsidies after legal challenge

Hill farmers claim the ten-fold difference in subsidy payments was dividing communities

Farmers in Wales have been promised a flat-rate system of EU subsidies after a court blocked plans to cut payments for those working the highest hills.

Some hill farmers objected to Welsh government changes which offered them ten times less than lowland farmers.

Deputy Farming Minister Rebecca Evans said she would move to a flat rate per hectare for all farmers by 2019.

Farming unions welcomed the decision, but called for increased support for the most productive land.

The Welsh government's original plan was formally quashed by the courts in December following a challenge by a Welsh farmers' campaign group, Fairness for the Uplands (FFTU).

While the farming money comes from the EU, the rules on how it is allocated in Wales are drawn up by the Welsh government.

Under the original agreement, the Welsh government ruled that land above the 400m (1,300ft) line was worth £16-a-hectare or €20 in EU subsidies to farmers, while below the line land was worth £160 or €200 a hectare.

According to FFTU, about 300 hill farmers out of 15,000 in Wales would have lost out under the plan.