The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has repeated its call for the importance of food production and farming families to the Welsh economy, culture, communities and landscapes to be recognised, and urged the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee (ETRA) to ensure that support, which underpins safe, quality food production, will be maintained in order to avoid irreparable damage to Wales.

Responding to the ETRA Inquiry into the Agriculture (Wales) Bill, the FUW stressed that the previous lack of focus on food production in the 2018 Brexit and Our Land consultation was of significant concern to the FUW’s membership and, since the Brexit referendum, the FUW has consistently argued for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) principles to include not only the economic sustainability of Wales’ family farms but also the sustainable production of safe traceable food.

The FUW therefore welcomed the inclusion of food production in the SLM Objectives contained in the Bill, but remains concerned that a direct reference to the economic well-being of farming businesses continues to be excluded from the SLM Objectives.

Farmers in Wales are part of the solution to tackling the climate emergency - that’s was the key message from the Farmers’ Union of Wales President ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), which took place from 6th - 18th November in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Farmers across the country take the climate and biodiversity emergency seriously and are actively taking steps to contribute in a positive way by protecting, enhancing and adding to existing carbon stores on farms, alongside increasing efficiencies.

For example, Welsh farmers are proud to be taking action to increase soil organic carbon in grasslands, protecting peatland from damage by managing grazing levels and drainage, actively managing existing farm woodlands and considering new planting, creating wildlife habitats along water courses, field margins and hedgerows, and looking at emissions through carbon calculators and improving efficiencies.

The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have reached an agreement on the EU budget for 2023 as proposed by the European Commission. The proposal concerns commitments of €186 billion and payments of €168.7 billion. This is €1 billion more than the draft budget announced in June.

Nearly a third, €54.7 billion, is for the Common Agricultural Policy and the European Maritime, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Fund to "strengthen the resilience of the agri-food and fisheries sectors and to provide the necessary scope for crisis management.”

Agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowskihe in an interview with the EU Commission news service Euractiv had earlier 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.

Irish Young Farmers to get Increased Support from 2023

The Irish Minister for Agriculture has told young farmers in Ireland that they will be supported over the next 5 years through the next Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan and also by National Funding.

3% of direct payments in Ireland will be used to support young farmers. This could see the rates being paid to young farmers increasing from €68/ha to €170/ha for the first 50 hectares and would not be linked to entitlements. Capital investment would also be supported at a higher rate for young farmers of 60%.