Devolution provides the opportunity to create Wales specific solutions to the food and energy crisis - that was the key message delivered by the FUW meeting Members of the Senedd at the Union’s annual Cardiff Farmhouse Breakfast event.

The event, which was held at the Norwegian Church on Tuesday 24 January 2023, highlighted that the Agriculture Bill currently being considered by the Senedd - a Bill that represents the biggest changes for Welsh agriculture since the UK joined the European Union - has the potential to solve many of the issues the country is currently facing. 

Almost by definition, farmers are food producers, and it is worth remembering at the first Senedd Breakfast event held since the pandemic threw the entire world into turmoil in 2020, how close the country came to critical breakdowns in global and domestic food supply chains during the pandemic. 

The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) which launched in England in June last year as a replacement for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) has so far only paid 224 farms according to leaked figures obtained by The Guardian newspaper. The BPS payments to English farmers have been cut in both 2021 and 2022 and are due to be fully phased out by 2027. 224 farms receiving their SFI payments represent only 0.2% of the 102,000 BPS claimants. 

DEFRA farming minister Mike Spencer has said that the money taken out of the BPS has been made available to farmers through one-off grants and ongoing schemes. The low take up of the SFI has led to criticisms that there is a lack of confidence due to a lack of detail on payment rates and the standards required.

From 2023 a new payment of £20 per hectare (ha) for the first 50 ha has been introduced to cover the costs of taking part in SFI, and more options are to be added.

Figures released by the Irish government show that food exports to the UK have increased significantly in 2022 reaching €5.4 billion, a near €1 billion year on year increase. In total a record €16.7 billion worth of food, drink and horticulture products were exported from the Republic last year, up 22% or €3 billion on the previous year with 32% exported to the UK as the largest single market. 34% was exported to the EU and the remaining 34% to international markets.

The increase in food and drink exports can be attributed to both increased unit prices, due to inflation and rising input costs, and an increase in the volume of goods exported. The value of exported food and drink to the UK increased across most categories.

Prepared Consumer Foods to the UK saw a 14% increase in value to €2 billion led by value added beef and poultry, bakery, confectionery and meal solutions. Exports of Irish Dairy to the UK increased by 39% to €1.2 billion with cheese and butter the top performers accounting for 50% of exports. Exports of Irish beef to the UK increased 15% to reach €1.1billion, 43% of total Irish beef exports. Irish Sheepmeat increased 15% year on year to €78 million, driven in part by some of the major Irish lamb processors also having facilities in the UK and seeking to optimise utilisation of their operations. Irish Horticulture exports to the UK increased by 3% in 2022 to €276 million with mushrooms accounting for half of this value. Irish Drinks saw a 4% increase to €276 million.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski has argued for an increased Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for the next period beginning in 2028. Speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee on the 9th January and later at a plenary session of the European Parliament on the 17th January he put forward his argument for an increased farm subsidy budget.

Some months earlier in an interview with the EU Commission news service Euractiv, Mr Wojciechowski said that the CAP budget was not sufficient to ensure food security which has been demonstrated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in the Ukraine. He also said the current CAP was spread too thinly and future payments should be directed at farmers and food production.

Speaking this month he said that due to high inflation the CAP budget was being eroded and every existing flexibility under the current framework aimed at minimising the impact of high inflation had already been used. He also argued that the rise in food prices had not been enough to counter the rise in input prices and that farming revenue was not rising enough to compensate for the erosion of CAP payments due to inflation.