A farming family from South Wales have stressed the need for continued collaboration with the Welsh Government after some major opportunities were missed in the Agriculture (Wales) Bill.
Hosting a farm visit for Conservative Member of the Senedd Joel James, the Jones family stressed that the Sustainable Farming Scheme, currently still in development, must deliver on the shortcomings of the Bill if sustainable, thriving, family farms are going to be a reality in Wales for generations to come.
Lynne Jones and his family run Fforch farm. They keep 300 Glamorgan Welsh mountain sheep along with 65 breeding cows. The family started off with highland cattle to cope with the hardiness of the mountain, crossed with Short horns and Salers. They have now moved on to cross them with Charolais and Aberdeen Angus bulls.
The family farm 500 acres of owned land and 500 acres of rented land which is used for grazing. The 3 children diversified a few years ago and launched a successful microbrewery Cwm Rhondda Ales and then went on to open Cwm Farm Shop.
Family farms in Wales are the backbone of not only the community but the rural economy too. To make their farm viable and sustainable they have diversified with wind power and the farm shop. Without these the children would all have to leave the community to find work elsewhere. It's vital the industry is supported to keep the next generation on farms and in Wales.
Without diversifying, they wouldn't still be farming today. They believe they were fortunate to have been in a position to do so, as there are many family members to take on workloads between them.
The FUW were pleased that the Senedd recently voted to include a multi-annual support plan in the Agriculture (Wales) Bill, which will provide information about how Welsh Ministers intend to provide financial support.
This has been a key demand of the FUW and is a provision which exists within the UK Agriculture Act. The inclusion of this amendment places farmers in Wales on an equal footing to those in England and gives some clarity to farmers when planning for their business’ future.
However, the FUW are also clear that when it comes to funding to agriculture, the Sustainable Farming Scheme can deliver on key issues such as the provision of a baseline payment for all farmers undertaking Universal Actions, which would be providing much needed stability.
Union officials further told the Member of the Senedd that there are strong concerns over the 10% woodland creation element included in the scheme proposal.
That target is not achievable for every farmer, and as such would exclude some holdings from the scheme. That would be to the detriment of the overall environmental and biodiversity aims and targets.
Union officials further discussed the Water Resources Regulations and local procurement with Joel James.