The FUW has given a cautious welcome to an announcement on the future of agriculture and land management by Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths - but warned that plans need to be developed cautiously if devastation for rural communities is to be avoided.

The Welsh Government’s announcement made on Wednesday (March 21) acknowledges the challenges faced in light of the significant and swift changes facing Wales as a result of Brexit, and highlights five core principles it believes should underpin the future of Welsh agriculture and land management.

Responding to the announcement, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “We welcome the Cabinet Secretary’s acknowledgement that ‘farming is a vital part of the rural economy. It is the social anchor of communities and land managers are the custodians of the land that underpins our natural environment’

“It’s also welcome to once again hear the Cabinet Secretary supporting our view that there must be a well-planned multi-year transition to whatever system is ultimately agreed upon.

Farmers are being reminded of the new rules on Quarantine Units (QUs), which replaced Isolation Facilities, ahead of the show season.

“Those wishing to regularly show animals during the show season without falling foul of the six day standstill rule now have no choice but to set up an approved Quarantine Unit,” said FUW Deputy President Brian Thomas.

While the FUW has long been a supporter of changes which would reduce the pressures caused by the six-day standstill rule during busy trading periods as well as the show season, it was one of many industry bodies which highlighted the obstacles represented by high establishment costs and the strictness of the new rules, and that the replacement of isolation facilities could cause major problems for Welsh shows.

“The principle of isolating animals when they come on to a farm is one that should be followed wherever possible, and we had the opportunity of making it second nature by introducing a workable new system.

“Unfortunately, the cost and impractical nature of the rules and the movement reporting requirements represent a major obstacle to achieving this, and at the last count less than 100 farms have signed up for the new system.”

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has launched its ‘Fair Farm Funding’ campaign to highlight the urgent need for the UK Government to clarify funding for the sector in Wales, at its Grand Council meeting in Aberystwyth.

The campaign aims to secure fair funding for farmers in Wales after leaving the EU, ensuring that the industry does not receive less than it did before the UK left the European Union. It also insists that funding for farming should not be subject to the Barnett Formula.

Launching the campaign at the Union’s Grand Council, Managing Director Alan Davies said: “Historically the funding to support farming in Wales has come from the Common Agricultural Policy, but once the UK leaves the EU in March next year that link will be broken.

“Any funding to support agriculture will have to come from the UK Treasury. We’ve already heard that the Government will commit the same amount of funding to agriculture for the rest of this parliament. But there are complexities around how that funding might be allocated.

There may be over 5,000 miles between a livestock farm in the Welsh Valleys and a coffee and spice farm in Kerala, India, but the challenges they face are not such a world apart.

Welcoming spice and coffee farmer Father John Joseph from Wayanad in the state of Kerala, India, to Pencoedcae Farm, Princetown, near Tredegar, was Farmers’ Union of Wales Vice President Brian Bowen.

The farm is a mixed suckler cow and sheep hill unit. It consists of 150 acres of owned land with a further 1,000 rented acres and 1,200 acres of common rights on three separate commons. He runs the farm, along with his father, mother and his son.

Father John Joseph is visiting Wales as a guest of Fair Trade Wales as part of the annual celebration of Fairtrade Fortnight.

He grew up on a farm and studied at his local university before moving to Bangalore to complete his law degree. The area he farms is hilly and forested, which brings challenges. John decided to set up the WSSS Organic Farmers Fair Trade Association (WOFFA) in 2008 as a way of organising farming families to gain knowledge and tackle the challenges they’re facing, such as cycles of debt and over-use of chemicals and pesticides.