THE future of the family farm must be a major priority of a new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan told AMs at the National Assembly today.

Presenting the union's evidence to the Assembly rural development sub-committee's inquiry into reform of the CAP, he said: "I would like to thank you for holding this inquiry into one of the most important issues facing the agricultural industry in Wales over the coming years.

"However, I believe that our evidence shows that the future of the CAP is not just of importance to Welsh agriculture but also to our wider communities - to the very backbone of our rural economy and to every Welsh citizen."

In 2005, the Treasury and Defra published "A Vision for the Common Agricultural Policy", setting out the UK Government''s vision for EU agricultural policy to 2020.

The key policy reforms proposed included: alignment of import tariffs for all agricultural sectors with other sectors of the economy; abolition of production subsidies; abolition of price and direct income support measures; and abolition of export subsidies.

Following publication of the policy, the UK Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) was commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government and other administrations to analyse the impact of these key reform proposals on agriculture in Wales and the other devolved regions. The results, published in July 2009, revealed significant adverse impacts for Welsh agriculture and rural communities.

"To look at the possible worst case outcome of CAP reform for Wales we need look no further than the policies of the previous UK Government and the impact of these as predicted by FAPRI," said Mr Vaughan.

"Their work concludes that scaling down agricultural support and opening up our markets will have dramatic consequences for Welsh agriculture, rural employment and our rural communities.

"Such a watering down of the CAP would also mean abandoning our food security and deconstructing a framework which would otherwise be instrumental in tackling the key challenges of our age - namely, mitigating climate change without undermining food production.

"The FUW believes that to address these issues we need a robust CAP which is funded at a level that reflects the importance of these challenges and above all has the future of the family farm at its core," Mr Vaughan added.

The future of food will be the topic for discussion in a question and answer session during the Farmers' Union of Wales' Carmarthenshire county branch's annual general meeting at Cwmcerrig Farm Shop, Gorslas, on Monday June 7 (7.15pm for 7.30).

The panel will consist of Wales's Dairy Development Centre manager John Griffiths, Cwmcerrig Farm Shop director Roland Watkins, Wales YFC rural affairs committee chairman Dylan Jones and FUW senior policy officer Hazel Wright.

FUW Carmarthenshire county executive officer Meinir Bartlett said Cwmcerrig Farm Shop is the ideal venue for the meeting, especially the discussion on the future of food. "I am well aware that the Watkins family is passionate about producing good food.

"Their shop provides an alternative outlet for the pedigree Hereford Beef, Texel lambs, turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks and eggs reared in the traditional way on their family-run farm.

"To get the premium stock desired they had to innovate and that is the reason they built the farm shop. They take a great deal of pride in producing such a wide variety of food within just a few hundred yards of the shop which also stocks many other foods from all parts of Carmarthenshire."

The financial penalties applied to Welsh farmers for minor mistakes while filling in complicated application forms for single farm payments and other EU schemes have shot up by 175% to over £2m a year, the Farmers' Union of Wales has discovered.

Last year, 1,358 farmers in Wales lost a total of £2,156,237 compared to £783,470 by 1,133 farmers in 2008, £1,035,042 by 1,789 farmers in 2007 and £855,398 by 1,923 farmers in 2006.

"We have significant long standing concerns regarding the proportionality and circumstances in which financial penalties are applied to farmers due to mistakes on paperwork or insignificant breaches of EU regulations relating to the Common Agricultural Policy, and the past twelve months has seen a significant escalation in the level of penalties applied," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan today.

In light of these concerns he recently wrote to the National Assembly for Wales's rural development sub-committee chairman Rhodri Glyn Thomas, urging the committee to look into the issue of penalties applied to farmers.

"Examples include families affected by personal tragedies losing significant sums due to minor errors on paperwork, despite these being the direct result of exceptional circumstances, and farmers losing their entire incomes for periods of more than a year due to inadvertent minor errors being made while filling out complex forms," wrote Mr Vaughan.

The FUW also raised its concerns at a meeting with Welsh Assembly Government officials who made it clear that EU auditors had insisted that the level of penalties should be increased.

"It therefore appears that EU auditors are acting disproportionately by failing to allow the Welsh Assembly Government to act reasonably," said Mr Vaughan.

After receiving Mr Vaughan's letter, Mr Thomas wrote to rural affairs minister Elin Jones seeking an explanation. In her reply, she released the latest figures and confirmed "the total cost of penalties has increased significantly in 2009" due to cross-compliance penalties.

She explained the increase results from changes to the Welsh Assembly Government's system following an EC audit in December 2008 which criticised the level of financial reductions for cross-compliance breaches before and including 2008.

"The penalty system now meets the audit and regulatory requirements that, as a general rule, negligent breaches must be penalised at 3%," she added.

Mr Thomas has now told Mr Vaughan the sub-committee will investigate how the application of the rules in Wales compares with other EU national and regional governments.

"If the research shows that the Welsh Government is applying the rules more strictly than other governments, and that farmers in Wales are receiving bigger and more numerous fines than those in other countries, then the sub-committee will consider whether we need to carry out an inquiry into the matter," Mr Thomas added.

Mr Vaughan said: "We are indebted to Mr Thomas and his committee for having taken up this issue and I now look forward to seeing the results of their further inquiries.

"In the meantime, farmers should be under no illusions regarding the financial consequences of even the most minor mistake.

"Check, double check and triple check everything which relates to Cross Compliance and the Single Payment, and do not assume that commonsense or proportionality applies.

"Even the most minor error, such as a tick in the wrong box or being a day late retagging animals, can result in massive financial penalties."

Montgomeryshire voters will get the chance to quiz the constituency's parliamentary candidates at an open political forum organised by the Farmers' Union of Wales' county branch office.

The event will be held at Tynllwyn, Llanfair Caereinion (SY21 0HE), home of the FUW's county chairman, Arwel Rees, at 11am tomorrow (Friday, April 30).

Representing their parties at the event are: Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru), Glyn Davies (Conservatives), Lembit Opik (Liberal Democrats), David Rowlands (UKIP). Labour declined the offer to be present at the hustings.

FUW county chairman Arwel Rees said: "Even though the majority of farming issues are now dealt with by the devolved Welsh Assembly Government there are still a number of important rural issues being determined by Westminster.

"In a rural constituency like Montgomeryshire people have strong views on issues such as fuel duty, supermarket power, rural post offices and broadband availability.

"I hope the event will give farmers the opportunity to quiz the parliamentary candidates on their party's agricultural and rural policies."

Today's decision by the Welsh Assembly's rural affairs minister to extend the Tir Mynydd land management scheme for a further two years while its replacement Glastir scheme is rolled out is recognition of the problems facing Welsh hill farmers, the Farmers' Union of Wales said.

"We welcome Elin Jones's announcement as a small step in the right direction and some consolation to farmers who will be facing considerable cashflow problems during the next few years. However, fundamental concerns remain over the scheme's implementation," said chairman of the FUW's land use committee Richard Vaughan.

The Minister told the Assembly's rural development sub committee all farmers who make a Tir Mynydd claim on their 2010 Single Application Form (SAF) will be able to claim 60% of the payment on their 2011 SAF and 30% on their 2012 SAF.

Any eligible farmer who has not made a Tir Mynydd claim on their 2010 SAF and who has already submitted it to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) is encouraged to contact their Divisional Office as soon as possible, and by no later than 17 May 2010, to modify their SAF application if they wish to benefit from the increased support.

The Minister also paid tribute to the contributions from the FUW and other stakeholders who provided solutions to a range of issues relating to commons and Glastir on the recently established commons working group.

She said: "The group, working closely with my officials over recent weeks, has resolved the remaining difficulties associated with commons entry into Glastir. This is an excellent example of what can be achieved when interested parties work together with a positive attitude and towards a shared goal."

But FUW common land committee chairman Lorraine Howells claimed that the minister's comments relating to common land were extremely misleading.

"We fully acknowledge the work of the minister and WAG staff in taking account of the many issues we have raised with them in relation to common land and Glastir, and progress has certainly been made in terms of many of these.

"However, there remain a number of problems in relation to which solutions still need to be found, and I certainly do not agree with the minister that we have 'resolved the remaining difficulties'," said Miss Howells.

"On the contrary, we maintain that the complexity of some issues relating to common land, coupled with the importance of commons to Wales, justifies delaying implementation of the Glastir scheme and an extension to the Tir Mynydd Scheme by at least twelve months."

Voters on Anglesey will get the chance to quiz the island's parliamentary candidates next week at an open political forum on "The agricultural industry and rural Anglesey" organised by the Farmers' Union of Wales' county branch office.

The event will be held on Thursday 29 April at the Bull Coach House, Llangefni, starting at 7.30pm.

The candidates ? Dylan Rees (Plaid Cymru), Anthony Ridge?Newman (Conservatives), Matt Wood (Liberal Democrats), Albert Owen (Labour), Elaine Gill (UKIP), Peter Rogers (Independent) and the Rev Dave Owen (Welsh Christian Party of Wales) will be allowed five minutes to introduce themselves and a question and answer session will follow.

The branch's annual general meeting will be held on Wednesday 19 May at the Cartio?Môn?Karting venue, Bodedern, Anglesey, at 7.30pm when the guest speaker will be Mike Steel, Director of Animal Health in Wales.