A MAJOR consultation exercise, to be run throughout the summer and into the autumn, is vital to the farming sector’s future in Wales - and it is essential that farmers take part.

Latest proposals for future farm and rural support, in the Welsh Government’s ‘Sustainable Farming and our Land’ proposals, need to be thoroughly scrutinised by all those whose livelihoods could be changed forever.

Sustainability is at the heart of the new direction proposed for farming support, with ‘wide ranging and significant economic, environmental and social contribution’ said to be key underlying principles.

The claim is that the Sustainable Farming Scheme will provide a meaningful and stable income stream, fair outcomes, payments for new and existing sustainable practices and flexibility to apply to all types of farm.

Certainly the new document appears to be more farmer friendly than last year’s ‘Brexit and our Land’ paper, and some important concerns highlighted by the FUW in its October 2018 response are recognised in the new paper - in particular fears of a fixed time table pre-Brexit decisions, and the need for modelling and economic assessments before making any decisions.

The capping and/or tapering of payments and reference to ‘active farmers’ is also welcome, offering the opportunity to ensure support goes to genuine family farms.

But the underlying principles have not changed, in that the proposals still mean replacing direct support for farmers with a public goods scheme which could mean farmers having to do more and be faced with greater restrictions in return for potentially less money - and then having to compete on even terms with EU farmers or even their near neighbours in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

And there could well be a postcode lottery when it comes to levels of payments, options available and the rules which apply for farms in different areas of Wales - or even within a single county or parish.

It’s proposed that the only source of a payment in future will be through a multi-annual contract, drawn up following meetings and farm visits with every applicant - raising major concerns over the practicality and deliverability of a scheme which would take an unprecedented amount of work to implement - not least given the experience with less ambitious contract-based schemes such as Glastir.

Once major concern about this approach is that we will lose Wales’ state-of-the-art interactive online SAF system, recognised as one of the best in Europe. There are fears too that the deadline for consultation is the day before the UK is due to leave the EU on October 31 - when all of business may be in turmoil.

Nevertheless, the greater focus on food and farming, active farmers and communities as well as economic and environmental sustainability must be welcomed, and will make constructive conversations about the pros and cons of the proposals much easier than was the case during last year’s consultation period.

This vital issue is so important that as a union, the FUW is determined every farmer in Wales should have the opportunity to learn about it, and to do this we shall be running a series of road-show events in every county where farmers can learn about the proposals and how to respond to the consultation. We shall all be doing our utmost to make sure our farming community comes through with the very best deal possible.

These proposals will be one of the topics discussed during a series of seminars to be held at the FUW Pavilion during this year’s Royal Welsh Show which runs from July 22 - 25, with other subjects on the agenda including - mental health, bovine TB, rewilding and conservation, and there is a warm welcome to all to participate:

  • 11am Monday (July 22), What impacts do TB breakdowns have on mental health?’ chaired by FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright, with Ceredigion MP Ben Lake, Gareth Davies, Tir Dewi; Emma Picton-Jones, DPJ Foundation; Charles Smith, Farm Community Network and Linda Jones, RABI.
  • 11am Tuesday (July 23), Rewilding and conservation: poles apart or two sides of the same coin? chaired by BBC Radio 4 ‘Farming Today’ reporter Mariclare Carey-Jones, with Gareth Davies, Coed Cymru; Ponterwyd farmer Dafydd Morris-Jones and Bangor University Human Geography lecturer Dr Sophie Wynne-Jones.
  • 2.30pm Wednesday (July 24), ‘Brexit and Our Land – Next Steps’ chaired by FUW MD, Alan Davies, discussing the future of farming policies in Wales with Welsh Conservative shadow agriculture Minister Andrew RT Davies AM, Plaid Cymru shadow agriculture Minister Llyr Gruffydd AM, and FUW head of policy Dr Nick Fenwick.

As usual, there will be various different displays, a chance to catch up with fellow members and friends - a nice cup of tea and a chance to sit down!