The Farmers’ Union of Wales says the need to negotiate unfettered access to EU markets should not be eclipsed in the fallout from the General Elections, and must return as a key focus for politicians.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “We had expected these elections to focus on Brexit and issues such as whether the next UK Government should pursue a hard or soft Brexit, but campaigns quickly became dominated by important domestic issues.

“But all domestic policies will ultimately be influenced or constrained by the outcome of the Brexit process, because our economic future depends on securing positive trading arrangements with the EU.”

Mr Roberts said that whatever turmoil and uncertainty was unleashed by the General Election result, politicians should not lose focus on the need for such a trading arrangement.

“Around two thirds of identifiable Welsh exports go to EU countries, while many major employers base their companies here specifically because we have access to the EU’s 500 million consumers without the costs and hindrance of border controls and World Trade Organisation tariffs.

“As an industry, Welsh agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of losing access to the affluent mainland European markets which are on our doorstep; a third of Welsh lamb is exported to the continent, and the loss of access to the EU market in 1996, 2001 and 2007 caused catastrophic collapses in farm incomes from which many businesses did not recover.”

Mr Roberts said concerns over the impact of Brexit were a key issue in terms of bringing many younger people to the polls, and that these concerns should be taken on board.

The triggering of Article 50 on March 29 has placed significant constrictions on the time during which vast volumes of work must be done, and Mr Roberts said the outcome of the election places yet more pressures on that timetable.

“Our Manifesto argued for options to be pursued which would allow a smooth transition over a safe timescale, and that is now more critical than ever,” added Mr Roberts.

Mr Roberts further said EU Member States could agree to more time to negotiate beyond the two year Article 50 Brexit period, and that to seek such an agreement made sense given the mountain of work and potential risks which lay ahead.

“We now look to politicians from all political parties to work together constructively in Parliament to secure the best possible outcome of Brexit, and as smooth a transition to that outcome as possible,” he added.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed the decision by Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths to delay the introduction of Quarantine Units until September.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Over recent weeks we have discussed this issue with Welsh Government officials and the Cabinet Secretary, and she has agreed to delay the replacement of Isolation Facilities with Quarantine Units until Monday 11th September 2017.

“This welcome and pragmatic decision will allow those attending shows and buying breeding animals to carry on using Isolation Facilities under the current rules until that date, thereby minimising the particular problems for those attending summer shows which would otherwise have arisen.”

Isolation Facilities and their associated rules were previously due to be replaced with Quarantine Units on the 12th June 2017.

Announcing the change, Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths said: “Following discussions with key farming and stakeholder organisations over recent days I have decided isolation facilities may continue to be used by livestock keepers for agricultural shows and those wanting to move animals for breeding purposes, until 11th September 2017, when the new legislation on Quarantine Units will come into force.

“I am sure this approach will be of benefit to the agriculture summer shows and to livestock keepers who wish to display their animals at these important rural events.”

Whilst the rules regarding Quarantine Units are stricter than for Isolation Facilities, it will be possible to use Quarantine Units for all animal movements rather than for only breeding and show animals, meaning there will be a way of reducing the impact of the six-day standstill during busy trading periods.

Further details can be found at: http://gov.wales/topics/environmentcountryside/ahw/farmanimaltracing/quarantine-units/?lang=en

The Carmarthen branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales has donated £600 to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Carmarthen Feature County fund, to help the committee purchase a trailer.

The trailer, which was jointly purchased by the FUW Carmarthen office and St.Clears Trailer Manufacturer CLH, will now be used to transport a horse's head statue, made out of horseshoes, to various events and venues.

At the end of the feature year the trailer will then be auctioned at an organised event, with the proceeds of this auction going to the Carmarthenshire 2017 RWAS Feature County/Sir Gar .

The money collected by Carmarthenshire Feature County will go towards improving the facilities of the Equine area of the RWAS.

Each year the Royal Welsh Show has a different Host or Feature County. This has its origins in the early history of the show, when its location changed year on year moving around the 13 old counties in Wales.

Over the course of their year each feature county takes particular responsibility for fund raising and organising a variety of events, in order to raise funds to support the development of Llanelwedd and promote the Society, its work and all their shows and events.

FUW Carmarthen administrative assistant Joyce Owens, who is also the RWAS Carmarthen Feature ladies committee secretary, said: “The trailer has already been put to good use, as it transported the horse’s head statue to the Winter Fair 2016 and Spring Festival 2017. The statue is a great attention grabber, and was donated by the Lady Ambassador Georgina Cornock-Evans and has helped us in our fundraising campaign. The trailer and the statue will be further used to visit different events and locations over the coming year within the Carmarthenshire Area to help us promote the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show and the reason for fundraising in 2017.

“We are very grateful to FUW and CLH for giving us this trailer as a transportation means of the Horse’s Head Statue, which is an integral part of the promotion of the Carmarthenshire 2017 RWAS Feature County Fund raising Activities for Equine.”

[caption id="attachment_8000" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Farmers’ Union of Wales Livestock and Hill farming committees warn that if agriculture fails, so will our rural communities[/caption]

Livestock farmers from across Wales have been debating what future post-Brexit agricultural policies could look like and what would happen if agriculture fails, at a recent joint meeting of the Farmers’ Union of Wales Livestock and Hill farming committees.

Speaking at the meeting, FUW President Glyn Roberts highlighted that it was critical that all farmers feed into the discussions, to ensure that a policy suitable for all Welsh farming sectors can be put forward in due course.

“Following a consultation with members last year, we have begun to discuss more detailed scenarios for future post-Brexit agricultural policies with the committees today, and we will continue to gather opinions and ideas on what farming in Wales should look like.

“The FUW has a grass roots structure, and our policies are formed by members - farmers working on the ground every day. I encourage everyone to continue to feed their views in through their local offices and branch meetings,” said the Union President.

A message that came out loud and clear from the meeting was the need to acknowledge the vital role agriculture plays in providing employment in non-farming sectors and keeping rural communities alive.

Mr Roberts highlighted a recent study by the University of Kent which found that the complete abolition of CAP payments without compensating/countervailing measures could result in around 250,000 non-farming jobs being lost across the UK.

“The study, entitled Employment effects of CAP payments in the UK non-farm economy, found a net positive effect of the CAP payments on non-farm employment, and in particular a

strong positive relationship between direct payments and non-farm employment compared with Rural Development payments,” said Mr Roberts.

The academics behind the study conclude that the removal of CAP payments would also be

likely to have rural development implications beyond employment lost, such as increasing rural depopulation - particularly in terms of young people seeking jobs outside farming - and reduced business efficiency due to reductions in the scale of operations for some small and medium sized enterprises.

“This study supports and helps quantify what the FUW has been highlighting for many years, which is that farms support significantly more non-farming businesses and jobs than many sometimes appreciate.

“With so much at stake, it is essential that we use Brexit to create better functioning supply chains which fairly reward everyone; put in place policies which make up for market failure, and better target support in order to create a more prosperous Welsh economy,” added Mr Roberts.

[caption id="attachment_8000" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Farmers’ Union of Wales Livestock and Hill farming committees warn that if agriculture fails, so will our rural communities[/caption]