The ban doesn’t work.
Llyr Gruffydd, Wales’ new minister for Rural Resilience, is calling time on the winter restriction on spreading manure. The previous Labour government had slapped these rules on farms. River campaigners cheered. Farmers seethed. It was a recipe for anger, not cooperation.
Gruffydd isn’t here to fix the argument by ignoring the farmers. He thinks we can use technology. Real data. Weather forecasts. Not “farming by calendar.”
He says the tension between Plaid Cymru’s green goals and its farming roots is a myth. The new government still wants net zero by 2035, then again by 2045, then ten years early to the rest of the UK, 2055—wait, the goal is 2050, they want to be 10 years early, so 2040. Ten years ahead. The climate agenda stays. The method changes.
The Chaos of Slurry
Here’s the deal with muck. It’s a mix of cow dung and water. Natural fertilizer. Great for soil. Terrible for rivers if it leaks.
When slurry hits the water, sunlight can’t get through. Algae explodes. Oxygen vanishes. Wildlife gasps for air.
“The country’s waterways are in chaos,” the river groups warned. They argued farmers had ten years to adapt. They should be ready by now.
Since 2021, farms have needed five months of storage. You couldn’t spread from mid-October through January. It was rigid. Heavy.
Farmers hated it. They said storage is expensive. They argued the weather matters more than the month. If it’s sunny and dry in December, why wait until February? The rules felt disconnected from reality.
Look Out the Window
Gruffydd was previously Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson in opposition. Now he holds the keys.
He admits the ban isn’t working.
“If you want to know if the weather is right,” he said, “don’t look at a calendar. Look out the window.”
We need technology to manage slurry. The ban will change. Whether it changes before this winter is unclear. They will “do what we can.” That’s as specific as it gets.
Farming has been volatile. Huge protests hit the Senedd in 24. Subsidies, rules, anger. It’s been a rough ride. Gruffydd promises someone who gets it. Someone determined to solve the problems.
The budget? It’s ring-fenced. It won’t grow fast in this economy, but it won’t shrink either. Multi-year commitments. The stability farmers crave.
The Wildlife Problem
Then there’s TB. Bovine TB. The badgers are involved.
Gruffydd agreed with the TB Programme Board. You can’t just look at cattle. You have to address the disease in wildlife too. That usually implies culling. Environment groups aren’t happy about that, but the minister isn’t backing away.
Some people noticed something else. Or rather, what wasn’t there.
Climate and nature are gone from his title.
River Action pointed out on X: “Why drop the dedicated minister for climate change? Why not prioritize nature?”
The Future Generations Commissioner called it “disappointing.” No environment mention in the first minister’s core missions. It feels like a slight. A retreat.
Gruffydd insists there is no tension. Fixing nature helps farming. Fixing climate helps everyone. He sees synergy.
The farmers might get some breathing room this winter. The rivers might still face the same chaos. Who wins? Who loses?
The minister thinks he’s found the answer. The window looks a different way to everyone else.
