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(l-r) FUW Denbighshire County Chairman Rheinallt Hughes, FUW Vice President Richard Vaughan, David Jones MP, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union and FUW President Glyn Roberts[/caption]
The Chancellor Philip Hammond’s recent commitment to funding agricultural support until 2020 came as welcome news for the Welsh agricultural industry. There are however concerns amongst members of the Farmers’ Union of Wales that need to be addressed and these concerns were discussed when FUW officials met with David Jones MP, Minister of State for Exiting the European Union, at the Denbigh and Flint Show.
“Short term commitments are very welcome but there are still issues of clarity that need to be addressed. In the first instance the Chancellor’s statement needs to be localised to a Wales context by the Welsh Government. We really do need absolute clarity for individual schemes running now and upto 2020,” said FUW President Glyn Roberts.
Mr Roberts further raised the point that there is the ongoing concern about what funding arrangements will be in place and how they will be controlled.
“We know that agriculture is a devolved issue, but the funding of agricultural policy is not, or not as yet. We therefore need to have an open and honest debate as to what the best way is to manage agricultural budgets post Brexit,” said the Union President.
The FUW’s final concern that is in need of urgent attention, relates to the existing levels of TB that are in excess of anything that will be acceptable to European trade negotiators.
“We fear that if we do not change our policy in relation to the management of Bovine TB in wildlife, our ability to establish trade deals with the European Union may be halted at the first step. Therefore we have asked the Minister to highlight this vital issue to fellow Ministers to ensure that they too are aware of the current threats to successful trade negotiations,” added Glyn Roberts.