Funding schemes have been announced for farmers in Wales.

The decision comes in response to climate change concerns, with the Welsh Government's cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies, confirming two schemes to provide financial support for investment in farming infrastructure.

The initiatives fall under a commitment to the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.

The focus is to work with the farming community to improve water and air quality through regulation deployment.

A £20m commitment has been made for two strategies to help farmers reach compliance with The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021.

The Nutrient Management Investment Scheme and the Small Grants – Yard Coverings Scheme will open soon.

Designed to help farmers address nutrient management and storage, these schemes will provide support for additional slurry storage capacity and/or prevent rainwater from reducing storage capacity.

Support has been increased to provide a 50 per cent contribution towards specified project costs, with detailed guidance available shortly and schemes opening by summer.

Mr Irranca-Davies said: "In response to the prolonged period of wet weather, I recently chaired an ‘Extreme Weather Summit’ with key agricultural partners to discuss its impact on farmers and growers.

"The impact that the wet weather has had shows the importance of investing in resilience and during the Summit, I heard of significant issues in relation to slurry storage capacity."

He further noted that the setbacks caused by delayed access to land and rising costs over the extended winter months would have short-, medium- and long-term effects.

Continuing his statement, the secretary said: "I’m pleased to announce these schemes, which will help farmers build resilience to extreme weather conditions.

"The funding will also support farmers to reach compliance with our Agricultural Pollution Regulations which will help improve water quality in our rivers and their tributaries."

Farmers are being encouraged to consider potential investments before application windows open, and where necessary, engage with planning authorities.

Applications, according to the secretary, should be submitted as soon as possible, and existing commitments should not deter one’s eligibility to apply.

The secretary said: "Welsh Government will also play its part; if farmers have any difficulties meeting the requirements of their contracts, as a result of this prolonged wet weather period, they should contact Rural Payments Wales as soon as possible to discuss their options or to request a derogation.

"All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis."

Further details on the funding schemes are available online.

The Secretary concluded by emphasising the need for action to build resilience due to the potential impacts of climate change.