'There will be changes' to SFS promise as protests grow

Ms Griffiths told BBC News the Welsh government accepted changes were needed, but she wanted to hear "all the responses" to the consultation first.

Protesters are unhappy with proposed subsidy changes, which require 10% of agricultural land to be used for trees and 10% for wildlife habitat.

Ms Griffiths conceded the "majority of people" were unhappy with the proposals but said she did not want to pre-empt the consultation into the policy, the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which ends on 7 March.

"Officials are already saying to me, 'there will have to be changes made' but I want to look at it holistically," she told BBC Politics Wales.

Lesley Griffiths conceded a "majority of people" are unhappy with the proposals

"We need all those responses. We need all the feedback and we need to look at what can be done," she said.

Ms Griffiths added the "whole point" of the "seven-year conversation" the government has had with farmers was to ensure sustainable food production and to help fight climate change.

However Abi Reader, deputy president NFU Cymru, told the programme: "We are yet to see any reassurance from Welsh government that anything is going to change.

"We are desperate to see some reassurances from Welsh government that they are listening and they will change things because at the moment there is a huge swell of anger out there, which is headed for the Senedd."

Ms Reader said no progress was made at a meeting between unions and Welsh government ministers last week, which she described as "so disappointing".

Unions wanted reassurances of regular meetings with ministers "to continue dialogue" and the appointment of a "scientific advisory panel" in order to explore alternatives to planting trees.

She said: "Its making sure that we put stability back into farming businesses. That is what farmers want to see an overall.

"We need a model that is universal. It's universal for every single farmer in Wales to access."