[caption id="attachment_6798" align="alignleft" width="300"]
(l-r) FUW President Glyn Roberts, Simon Hart MP, FUW Pembrokeshire County Chairman David Nicholas, FUW Vice President Eifion Huws, FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright and FUW Pembrokeshire County President Hywel Vaughan discuss #FarmingMatters at Pembrokeshire County Show.[/caption]
A delegation of Farmers’ Union of Wales officials have met with Simon Hart MP at Pembrokeshire County Show to discuss #FarmingMatters, bovine TB, the future of agriculture post-Brexit and the state of the dairy industry.
Focusing strongly on how farmers can cope with volatility in the dairy industry, FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright said: “In the absence of a proper functioning supply chain we must protect producers from being exposed to unfair practises. We have repeatedly called for a strengthening of the Groceries Code Adjudicator role to include indirect dairy contracts as well as direct contracts to retailers.
“The FUW remains concerned that producers in remote areas with little choice of contracts remain vulnerable. Given the current volatility in the market and the slow adjustment of milk volume to supply needs, we need to further discuss the way in which producers might be protected and given greater supply chain power.”
Union officials also highlighted that budgets post 2020 need to be allocated carefully to ensure that agriculture in Wales is not placed at a disadvantage. In addition the FUW reinforced the point that if we do not change our policy on the wildlife vector in regards to bovine TB, our exports to the European Union, in a post-Brexit world, are under considerable threat.