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Dilwyn John[/caption]
Newly-elected chairman of Farmers' Union of Wales' common land committee Dilwyn John today described the implications of abolishing Less Favoured Area (LFA) payments in favour of the Glastir agri-environment scheme as severely threatening for commoning communities.
Mr John, a past FUW Brecon and Radnor county chairman, farms around 240 acres at Dan Y Graig Farm, Cwmtaff, Merthyr Tydfil, and has grazing rights on Vaynor commons for 1,500 sheep.
Together with his wife, Beth, he runs a flock of 700 South Wales Mountain ewes.
"At a meeting of the common land committee delegates described a wide range of problems they were experiencing in trying to access Glastir, all of which represent a major barrier for graziers associations in areas where farm incomes are set to drop significantly when Tir Mynydd is abolished," said Mr John.
"Wales has the highest proportion of common land in the UK, and around 18 per cent of Welsh farms declare common land annually. The EU rules governing schemes such as Glastir mean there are inherent obstacles to many commons entering Glastir and in some areas these are insurmountable."
Mr John said that in some areas the involvement of inactive graziers who had previously shown no interest in a common was splitting communities and preventing access to the scheme.
"Other examples of problems include those with very few rights outvoting genuine graziers, because the European Commission has refused to accept that the more rights you have the more control you have of a common.
"This means people with grazing rights for just a few animals can, in some cases, have the same power as graziers who are farming a common and have rights to graze thousands of animals."
Members have also experienced obstacles as a result of the Countryside Council of Wales refusing to allow commoners to change grazing patterns in order to access Glastir while others believed that changes to grazing regimes could damage environments and result in major fire risks.
"Glastir is a dog's dinner and a recipe for disaster for many commons, with many of the problems being a direct result of the EC's failure to accept that our system of commoning is unique and requires rules which are far more tailor made," Mr John added.
"The abolition of Tir Mynydd, combined with the Welsh Government's failure to persuade the EU to make allowances for these unique farming systems, means a disaster for many of our most vulnerable upland communities."