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.

Politicians who ignore the central role Welsh family farms play in the community will threaten the livelihoods of thousands of people living and working in rural areas, Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan warned today.

Launching the union's 2010 General Election manifesto "Farming for all our Futures", Mr Vaughan said the family farm was a key entity which had previously been overlooked and undervalued by many of our political leaders.

"Whatever the political issue, whether it is climate change, animal health and welfare, the negotiation of global trade agreements, or any of the other agriculturally-related topics that affect the electorate, the family farm has a central role to play, and those politicians who ignore this do so at our peril," he said.

Meanwhile, as UK politicians battle over the 6 May election, discussions regarding the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are the focus of talks at a European level and the outcome of these may be as influential over the long term welfare of UK citizens as the forthcoming election.

"In 2007 and 2008 countries around the globe suffered conflict and social unrest due to food shortages. In some developed countries major retailers even rationed certain foodstuffs and, in July 2008, a discussion paper issued by DEFRA concluded that 'the current global food security situation is a cause for deep concern', listing high energy prices, poor harvests, rising demand, biofuels and food export bans in some countries as main factors.

"With the world population expected to rise to between nine and 10 billion by 2050, and predicted reductions in global agricultural productivity per hectare, there is clearly a need for appropriate action that balances food production against environmental considerations, and mitigating climate change without compromising food security is one of the most significant long term challenges facing mankind.

"There can be little doubt that joined up policies between Governments are needed to address these issues and the CAP, by design, provides just such a framework, allowing Europe to react to the imminent challenges that growing populations, global warming, rising sea levels, and peak oil represent in terms of food security."

Mr Vaughan accepted devolution had reduced the number of Welsh agricultural issues over which MPs have a direct influence, but said there remain a significant number of overarching policies of significant concern for Welsh rural communities, and the FUW's concerns and aspirations regarding the most significant of these are highlighted in the union's manifesto.

"Many of these topics will be the subject of detailed consideration during the next Parliament, and the decisions taken by Westminster that follow will have vital implications for both the agricultural industry and all UK citizens over the coming years.

"The FUW is not affiliated to any political party and therefore has a duty to work with both the Government of the day and the opposition parties, irrespective of their political persuasions.

"For the period of the next Parliament and beyond the FUW is therefore committed to lobbying all those in Westminster to ensure that agriculture and family farms receive the attention and respect that they warrant - for the sake of all our futures."