The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) Animal Health & Welfare Committee held an emergency meeting on 28th July 2021 to discuss and form a response to the Farm Assured Welsh Livestock (FAWL) 2021 Standards consultation.
The consultation proposed the compulsory recording of antibiotic use data by the vet via an online calculator along with stricter environmental standards to name just a few.
The FUW made it clear that four weeks during one of the busiest times in the farming calendar was far from enough time for its twelve County Executive Committees to discuss the proposals and form a full, democratic response, and therefore requested for the deadline to be extended.
The majority of Welsh lamb and beef producers are FAWL assured and while it may be a voluntary scheme for many, it is in fact compulsory for the majority of dairy farmers’ milk contracts therefore the importance of changes to such standards must not be taken lightly.
The FUW Animal Health & Welfare Committee supported the collection of antibiotic use data to generate a national baseline for antibiotic usage for Welsh livestock farmers to use as a benchmark and for the industry to demonstrate its efforts towards reducing antibiotic use.
However, the Committee agreed that such data should be kept anonymous and that FAWL must take into account that not all farmers in Wales are assured with FAWL, differences in production systems, time of purchase in relation to time of the annual review and vet capacity and support.
Delegates were also strongly against proposals to introduce a number of new environmental standards given that the main responsibility of FAWL producers is to “ensure that the condition in which livestock are kept maintain them in a fit, healthy and stress free condition.”
While the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Senedd Committee carries out an urgent review of the Water Resources regulations, the FUW recommended for Welsh Lamb and Beef Producers (WLBP) to withdraw its proposals to revise the environmental standards until the next standards review in three years time.