FUW WELCOMES AM's REPORT ON GLASTIR

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed the conclusions of the Assembly's rural development sub-committee's inquiry into the new Glastir land management scheme outlined in a letter to rural affairs minister Elin Jones.

The letter by sub-committee chairman Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM calls for greater clarity over the scheme. The chairman of the FUW's land use and parliamentary committee Richard Vaughan gave evidence to the sub-committee when it met in Dolgellau last month.

He highlighted the confusion among farmers and demanded that the scheme be deferred until there is greater clarity of all the options.

"The union fully supports the sub-committee's recommendations urging the Assembly Government to review its decision not to provide project officer support for the entry-level scheme and to consider whether its offices have the capacity to deal with increased demand for support from farmers," said Mr Vaughan.

"Glastir represents a seed change for farmers in Wales and it's high time that the Assembly realised that farmers need time to adapt and more details about the scheme so that they can make the right business decisions."