The UK Supreme Court's decision to back the Welsh Government's bid to set up its own Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) to protect the incomes of thousands of Welsh agricultural workers was applauded by the Farmers' Union of Wales today.

"We wholeheartedly welcome this judgement because we have consistently supported the retention of the AWB as it has an important role in determining the pay and conditions of service which reflects the unique labour requirements of the agricultural industry, particularly in Wales," said FUW agricultural education and training committee chairman Alun Edwards.

"Agricultural workers have to be flexible in their working arrangements to cover busy periods, fine weather and unsociable hours but this type of flexibility is not covered by general employment law.

"Therefore, I believe there is a vital role for minimum rates of pay for agricultural workers and we hope the Welsh Government will now reconsider its approach towards zero-hours contracts in the light of the Supreme Court's positive judgement."

The Farmers' Union of Wales said today it is looking forward to working with the new Welsh Government ministers with responsibilities for agriculture, fisheries and food and will be seeking early talks with them.

Following natural resources and food minister Alun Davies's sacking this morning, the First Minister Carwyn Jones reallocated agriculture fisheries and food to business minister Edwina Hart who will be assisted by a new deputy minister for agriculture and fisheries, Mid and West Wales AM Rebecca Evans.

FUW president Emyr Jones said: "Obviously, we are disappointed that the portfolio has been split again, although we welcome the fact that farming gets a dedicated deputy minister for agriculture. We have worked with Rebecca Evans in her role on the Sustainability Committee and she represents a predominantly rural area.

“As profitable farming and a sustainable environment are interlinked we also look forward to working with culture and sport minister John Griffiths who has received the environment policy brief.

"We will now seek to meet the new deputy minister as soon as possible to ensure that work on the range of outstanding CAP issues does not lose momentum," he added.

Joint ventures in farming are often surrounded by myths and uncertainty as farmers remain concerned about succession and the future of their farms, delegates will discuss at the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ annual autumn conference.

In a bid to tackle the issue the conference - to be held at the William Davies Conference Hall, IBERS, Aberystwyth, on Wednesday October 15 - will explore all aspects of succession.

“Based on the theme ‘Joint Ventures in Farming - myth breaking and match making’, the conference will feature presentations, workshops and feedback sessions, each focusing on different aspects of  joint ventures, including  the types of ventures available and the legal and financial aspects of succession with industry leading experts,” said chairman of the union’s younger voice for farming committee Darren Williams.

“Succession is often one of the most taboo subjects for farming families and whilst there are plenty of young enthusiastic people who wish to enter the industry this conference is aimed more at those who have not yet planned their future and who may be interested in more information on the options available to them.”

FUW president Emyr Jones said the conference is the start of a process for the union, in which it aims to encourage farmers to look at ways in which their land will be farmed in the future, whilst offering them security and access to support.

“We would like to extend a warm welcome to all those interested in learning more about joint venture farming and urge you to book your space for the conference.”

The Farmers’ Union of Wales today gave a cautious welcome to a number of decisions made by Welsh Government regarding Pillar 1 CAP payments but warned that the devil may be in the detail.

Speaking after natural resources and food minister Alun Davies’ announcement, FUW president Emyr Jones said: “The inclusion of fallow land, hedges, stone wall, afforested land and land used for nitrogen fixing crops within Greening Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) is welcome.

“Like the Welsh Government, we were opposed to the introduction of greening which adds a new layer of restrictions and bureaucracy to the CAP regulations. However, despite this objection the minister’s decision to allow the range of areas to be eligible for EFAs must be welcomed.

“But it must be borne in mind that this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it will make it easier to comply with greening requirements and reduce the amount of land taken out of production but, on the other, it will create extra work for farmers who will need to map hedges, walls etc. before the end of October this year.”

Mr Jones emphasised the need to increase the range of areas and features which qualify for EFAs, both at an EU and Wales level.

He also welcomed the minister’s decision to revoke an earlier refusal to allow appeals against the incorrect categorisation of land as “moorland”, following pressure from the FUW.

“The criteria upon which appeals are judged must be fair and objective. No one can argue that it would be morally acceptable to have a system which sets in stone errors made during the original 1992 moorland mapping process - a process which few were aware of until recently,” added Mr Jones.

Highlighting the need for approaches which minimise the administrative burden for government and farmers alike, he said: “While the Welsh Government appears to have accepted many of our arguments regarding the active farmer criteria, there may still be those who are not automatically recognised as active farmers. For example, because they have a pheasant release pen or a village football pitch on their land.

“It is essential that some way is found to allow such people to confirm that they are nevertheless active farmers, rather than requiring them to submit annual accounts which merely confirm what is obvious but buries officials in paperwork.

“The EC’s failure to provide guidelines giving sensible and workable solutions to such problems is yet another black mark against an institution which has promised to simplify the CAP.

“This, coupled with the greening requirements, means we will have a CAP under which the bureaucratic burden will be much worse than at present.

“It is, therefore, essential that the Welsh Government stands by its commitment to reduce avoidable bureaucracy and does not add significantly to the burden as is currently proposed in its consultation on Cross Compliance,” added Mr Jones.