There must be a major overhaul of the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals, according to NFU Cymru, as thousands of members responded to a consultation.

The union said the record consultation response doubles the previous highest response ever received by the union for such an engagement exercise.

More than 6,700 farmers gave their feedback via the NFU Cymru website during the 12-week consultation period.

The Sustainable Farming Scheme has raised levels of stress and anxiety across the farming community.

NFU Cymru president, Aled Jones, said: "We’ve received an unprecedented response to this consultation and the overwhelming strength of feeling from our members is a clear indicator that the current proposals need a major overhaul."

He implored that the Sustainable Farming Scheme be more explicit in supporting and enhancing food production.

“Farmers need stability to underpin the continued supply of safe, high quality, affordable food from Wales."

He also called for a policy that protects jobs in farming and the supply chain, and insisted a full socio-economic assessment of the scheme's impact must be undertaken.