The Farmers’ Union of Wales has described the on-going delay in post-Brexit border checks on food as baffling. The UK Government's apparent decision to continue to allow imports from the EU to circumvent checks is a blow for many UK producers, and an own goal in terms of the UK’s negotiating position over improvements that would help UK exporters.

While thorough checks have been in place for UK food exports to the EU since 1st January 2021, equivalent checks on food products imported from the EU were due to be introduced from 1st April 2021 following a transition period to allow importers to adjust to the UK’s departure from the EU Single Market.

It has been reported that there is concern that the extra checks on imported goods will push up prices and fuel inflation.

During a recent meeting of the Farmers' Union of Wales Milk and Dairy Produce Committee, delegates felt that the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2023 would bolster the good practice many milk purchasing businesses in Wales and across the United Kingdom have developed and acted upon since the introduction of the Voluntary Dairy Code in 2012.

It’s welcome news to see these regulations being put in place in order to stamp out rogue milk purchasing businesses from abusing their position and exploiting dairy farmers with underhanded business decisions and contractual loopholes.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed positive feedback from Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford over a number of issues raised with him during a meeting at the Royal Welsh Show.

A diverse range of issues of concern to the industry were raised with the First Minister. 

The issue of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) and the 10% tree planting target were discussed at some length.

Getting to grips with the ‘energy injustice’ faced by communities and farming businesses is one of the key challenges currently faced by the rural economy in Wales, according to a panel of experts brought together by the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW).

More needs to be done to ensure that the barriers currently faced by a vast number of farmers seeking to invest into small renewable energy projects are removed, such as planning restrictions and a lack of grid capacity. The Minister responsible for Energy, Julie James MS, told the panel that steps had been taken to ease the process with the Welsh Government’s ‘Future Wales’ plan.