The decision made by telecoms regulator Ofcom that BT has to legally separate from its Openreach division, which runs the UK's broadband infrastructure, has been welcomed by the Farmers’ Union of Wales today (Tuesday, November 29).

Commenting on the announcement, FUW Managing Director Alan Davies said: “This is good news, in terms of making the market fairer to other companies and the consumer. However, Openreach is still owned by BT so the devil will no doubt be in the detail.

“What we need here in Wales is fair and equal access to the country's telecoms infrastructure and this has to be open to BT's competitors so that broadband is available in even the most remote parts of our country. Our rural towns and villages have been left behind in the race for better and faster connectivity and it is critical for the sake of rural businesses and the economy, that tangible improvements are made now.

“2 percent of our population produce around 60 percent of our food. Yet there is a significant part of that 2 percent who remain unable to connect to the internet from their farms and they are suffering from digital exclusion. It really is critical that we close that gap between town and country and make broadband a 21st century normality for those living in rural areas.”

The FUW has stressed on many occasions that those without a connection cannot diversify their businesses, that they cannot support children with homework as many need to do and that they cannot connect readily with Government programmes for advice and support payments as they are mandated to do.

A transition period of at least 10 years is necessary in order to phase in and allow the industry to adjust to new agricultural policies post-Brexit, the Farmers’ Union of Wales has said today.

In addition, the FUW is arguing that agricultural support following our exit from the European Union should be maintained at levels which at least reflect those levels which would have been in place should the UK have voted to remain in the EU.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “A third of Wales’ population live in rural areas where farming, and businesses which rely on agriculture, play an important role in local economies; in sparsely populated areas, where centres of population have less than 2,000 people, around 10 per cent of workers are employed in agriculture. That equivalent to 14 per cent of those employed outside the public sector.

“With this in mind, the FUW has highlighted for many years the wider role agriculture plays in terms of supporting Wales’ rural and wider economy and that’s why we are stressing the fact that agriculture needs to be allowed to adjust to new policies post-Brexit and that support is maintained in line with other EU countries.

“With large numbers of politicians from across the political spectrum seeing the Brexit vote as an opportunity to introduce changes which would have devastating impacts for agriculture, rural communities, and all those involved in food and agricultural supply chains, the need to inform people of the dangers of undermining Welsh agriculture has never been greater.”

As founding members of the Strategic Framework Partnership Group, the FUW has been at the forefront of work which continues to add to the body of knowledge regarding the role played by agriculture in our rural and wider communities.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has today said it believes that irrespective of what trade deals are in place post-Brexit, within the UK, Welsh farmers will compete against their counterparts in other devolved regions.

As such, the Union says that the rationale for having a common policy across the UK which minimises unfair competition and market distortion remains unchanged.

Under the current Common Agricultural Policy, Member States are allocated Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 budgets which must be spent on direct support and rural development over the seven year period of the policy.

That money must be spent by Member States and regions within a set of overarching EU Regulations, aimed at minimising unfair competition between regions and ensuring similar rules are applied in regions and on farms.

Those rules allow a degree of flexibility, allowing administrations such as those in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland to implement payment systems and policies which differ, but comply with the overarching principles of the CAP.

“While there is currently no clarity as to what system, if any, should replace the Common Agricultural Policy once the UK leaves the EU, some have argued for a single agricultural policy and budget to be governed by the UK Government, thereby bypassing devolution,  while others believe devolved administrations should have complete autonomy over agricultural budgets and policies,” said FUW President Glyn Roberts.

The Union President added that the way in which budgets are allocated by UK Governments, and the allocation of devolved budgets through the Barnett Formula, further complicate matters, and represent a significant threat in terms of volatility and any allocation of agricultural funding to Wales.

The FUW therefore suggests that a UK agricultural framework should be put in place which prevents unfair competition between devolved regions and secures and protects adequate long term funding for agriculture, while also respecting devolved powers over agriculture and the need for flexibility within that framework, which allows devolved governments to make decisions which are appropriate for their regions.

In addition, specific ring-fenced funding for agriculture should be allocated to Wales outside the Barnett Formula, and should be administered by the Welsh Government.

Tariff-free access to EU markets is essential, particularly for the Welsh sheep sector, the Farmers’ Union of Wales has said today.

According to the FUW, post-Brexit imports to the UK should be subject to genuine equivalence in terms of environmental and animal health standards and any agreement which allows free access to UK markets for EU agricultural produce must be accompanied by financial support for UK producers equivalent to the support received by EU farmers.

The Union further stresses that the EU’s New Zealand sheep meat quota should not be passed back to the UK as this is likely to add significantly to pressures on the sheep sector post-Brexit.

In addition, the FUW renewed its call on governments to proactively support UK food and farming through their own procurement policies, and by ensuring competition rules favour rather than disadvantage UK industries

For almost half a century, and most recently as members of the EU, the UK has been part of a single European market, which bans payments from being levied on goods travelling between the UK and other Member States. Critical to the agreement is the imposition of common tariffs on any goods entering Member States of the EU. Inherent to membership of the single market is the free movement of people.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “For agriculture, membership of the customs union has meant significant protection from non-EU food imports, increased competition from produce from other Member States, and unfettered access to EU markets – all within a single farm support framework and system of common rules.

“As a single trading block, the European Union negotiates trade deals with other countries as a single entity, for example through the World Trade Organisation (WTO), while countries which are not members of the EU must negotiate alone, and in the absence of trade agreements, are subject to default WTO trade rules and tariffs, which impose significant restrictions on trade.

“As such, establishing trade deals with other countries and trading-blocks – including the EU – is a major priority and challenge for the UK, and one regarding which there are a broad range of opinions.”

Most concerning for farmers Mr Roberts added, are proposals by senior politicians from across the political spectrum to increase imports of cheap food from countries with environmental, animal health, and in some cases human rights standards which fall well short of those legally required in the UK.

“Such policies would not only have a severe detrimental impact on UK agriculture and rural communities, but would also lead to an overall increase in environmental degradation and a fall in animal welfare standards – both issues on which the UK electorate has strong views.”

The Union believes that in terms of Wales’ three key agricultural products, namely milk, beef and lamb, there is significant concern regarding the implications for all three sectors.

“The loss of nearby and relatively affluent continental markets, and the degree to which these can be realistically replaced by markets which are much further afield, given the costs, logistics and reality of gaining similar access to alternative, by definition more distant markets is a real concern.

“In addition, if WTO or similar tariffs were to be applied to UK exports to the EU, tariffs for some products would markedly reduce the value of sales to Welsh producers,” said Mr Roberts.

Superficially, trade balance figures suggest that leaving the EU’s free trade area may benefit some products through the removal of imported produce. However, such benefits could only be realised if there is political support for trade policies which reduce imports from all other countries.

Complicating such perceived benefits is the seasonality of production, and the degree to which sectors rely on exporting certain types of products and cuts (‘quarters’) which do not generally appeal to UK consumers in order to balance carcass and product value.

“This is a particular concern for the Welsh sheep sector, where production is necessarily extremely seasonal and includes a significant proportion of lighter lambs (around 15 per cent) for which there is little domestic demand, and exports to the continent of certain cuts and offal make up a significant proportion of carcass value for the same reason,” added Mr Roberts.