Later this year we may see some of the finer detail of the scheme that will replace direct farm subsidies in Wales.

The Welsh Government will be progressing with its agriculture bill and with it shaping the new Sustainable Farming Scheme.

If we look across the border to the new schemes in England, almost all payments mean less production of food and less output per acre of land, at a time when food inflation in the UK is the highest in Europe.

Farming unions suggest we are on the verge of a food security crisis not seen since the Second World War.

If ever we needed to support domestic food production it is surely now or we run the risk of not having domestic production to support.

Global food prices rose by as much as 28% in 2021, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and they are expected to continue to climb this year due to persistent supply chain issues.

A solution to food inflation is to grow more of our own produce but governments are now reluctant to support that.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown us that we can no longer rely on importing so much of our food from overseas. The global situation can change very abruptly, as we have seen in recent months.

It's the perfect storm of Brexit, Ukraine conflict, skills gap, supply chain issues, climate change and supermarket monopolies.

One controversial view is to suspend all environmental schemes that took land out of production, for a fixed period of two or three years, to encourage food production.

That would bad for the environment but people would be able to afford to eat and it could prevent further conflict around the world which will happen if nations like Africa and the Middle East can no longer afford bread.

NFU Cymru is urging the Welsh Government to support active farming and food production without cuts to the farming budget as it moves forward with its new agriculture bill this summer.

It says Wales has a ‘social responsibility’ to contribute to global food security, when food production systems in other countries are expected to face greater challenges due to climate change impacts.

The Agriculture (Wales) Bill is the most important piece of legislation to go through the Senedd in its 23 years of existence.

It must strike a balance between food production and the environment. If we can’t keep the nation fed we are in serious trouble.