Dairy farmers in Wales have spoken of their deep concern that water quality regulations published in draft form by Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths would push dairy farms ‘over the edge’.
Discussing the draft legislation at an emergency meeting of the Farmers’ Union of Wales Milk and Dairy produce committee, delegates were clear that a large proportion of the industry, which is already suffering severe impacts due to the knock-on impact of coronavirus, would not survive if these regulations were to be introduced.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales is deeply frustrated that the draft regulations were published during the covid-19 pandemic. Large numbers of Welsh dairy farmers have now seen massive falls in the price they receive for their milk as well as delays to payments due to the closure of the service sector and other impacts caused by coronavirus. This has led to some farmers having to throw thousands of litres of milk away and large numbers losing vast sums of money on a daily basis.
The FUW continues to work on behalf of its membership to find ways of ensuring farm businesses can survive, but remains clear that the dairy industry will be under severe financial pressures at the end of this crisis. The FUW is deeply concerned that some form of these regulations will come into force shortly after the pandemic when farm businesses are still recovering.
The draft legislation, if introduced, would designate the whole of Wales as an NVZ, an area more than forty times bigger than the current Welsh NVZ area, and eleven times bigger than that recommended by NRW; making tens of thousands of farms subject to draconian rules which normally only apply in areas where pollution problems have been shown to exist.
For the vast majority of Welsh farms there is no evidence that such measures are needed and there is even a real risk that the regulations would actually increase pollution. Indeed, the draft regulations ignore recommendations made by Natural Resources Wales, as well as a detailed 2018 report by the Wales Land Management Forum aimed at targeting agricultural pollution based on evidence and ensuring resources were focussed on places where pollution problems had been identified.
The FUW has repeatedly raised the issue of tenant farms as well as a range of other issues, none of which have been addressed. The Welsh Government has simply cut and pasted the EU regulations rather than taking the opportunity to introduce a proportionate, targeted and innovative approach to tackling problems that all want to see dealt with where they do occur.
The FUW has called on Welsh Government to use the extra time to produce and publish a comprehensive Regulatory Impact Assessment which considers a range of options and can be used to find an alternative approach. On behalf of our dairy industry and every other farmer here in Wales, the union hopes the Minister uses the time now available to reconsider these regulations.