Following the Environment Agency declaring drought conditions over much of England on 16th August, Defra has announced that from 17th August until the end of the year farmers and landowners involved in the Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship schemes have been given temporary easements on a range of options.
The move by Defra is to help ease shortages of bedding, fodder, grazing, or forage crops and applies to England only.
The temporary easements allow areas to be cut or grazed for their own use and to share with the wider community. Buffer zones, flower mixes and field corners are included in the option to cut or graze amongst many other options. Brassicas may be grazed early and other easements include allowing farmers to supplementary feed on very low input grasslands.
Agricultural Policy
i) Beef and Lamb New Zealand concerned about carbon farming
Beef and Lamb New Zealand has said that the recent Government announcement that exotic trees would no longer be removed from the Emissions Trading Scheme was a step back from addressing the ‘deeply concerning’ sale of sheep and beef farms while the conversion to carbon farming is ‘out of control’.
According to Beef and Lamb New Zealand, the figures show that in June 2022, consent was given under the ‘special forestry one-off purchase’ for the acquisition of nearly 2300 hectares of land for the conversion to forestry in the North Island.
ii) Meirionnydd farmers venture into carbon auditing
A group of farmers who are members of a Farming Connect discussion group in Meirionnydd have started to carbon audit their farms using a carbon auditing tool.
The tool will audit all parts of their businesses from fuel use to the fertility of their livestock.
The aim of the project is to inform the farmers of their current carbon footprint and create an action plan on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if and where required.
iii) Supermarket sales increase as grocery price inflation hits 10%
According to the latest figures from Kantar, grocery price inflation now stands at around 10%, the second highest level of grocery inflation recorded since 2008.
Supermarket sales have also increased by 0.1% for the first rise since April 2021 despite consumers now facing a £454 per year increase in supermarket bills.
According to NRW, Wales received 58% of its expected rainfall during July, although this wasn’t evenly distributed with catchments ranging from 29% for Valleys and the Vale of Glamorgan and 74% in Carmarthenshire.
During the five months from March to July, Wales received 61% of the average rainfall. The only other drier periods in the past 100 years occurred in 1984 and 1976.
The majority of farmers across Wales are being impacted by the prolonged period of dry weather in one way or another. This is in addition to the impacts of the war in Ukraine with many deciding to apply less fertiliser this year as a result.
The Welsh Government is launching the next stage of co-design to provide an opportunity for farmers to give feedback on the latest proposals for a Sustainable Farming Scheme.
Farmers are being invited to take part in a variety of ways including
- Workshops
- Interviews
- Survey
The survey will take 15 to 20 minutes to complete and is open until 31st October 2022. It can be accessed here and completed in English or Welsh.
Workshops will commence in the autumn, with a final report being published in spring 2023.
To register your interest, click here or visit the Welsh Government website.
As well as farmers, other groups, organisations and non farmers can get involved by completing a feedback form which will be available on the website soon.
A rural mental health charity has been honoured by the FUW with its external award for services to agriculture at the President’s reception during the Royal Welsh Show.
Tir Dewi was founded by the Venerable Eileen Davies, Archdeacon of Cardigan and Bishop Wyn in 2015, as she recognised the growing and serious need to help farmers who were experiencing difficult times.
With generous funding from The Church in Wales (Diocese of St. David’s) and the Prince’s Countryside Fund, Eileen was able to establish Tir Dewi as a valuable helpline and support service either by phone or on farm for farmers in West Wales.
Tir Dewi has actively helped hundreds of farmers and their families. Farmers in need throughout Wales can access the services of Tir Dewi.
More information about Tir Dewi and how to contact them can be found here.
- Help shape a future Soil Policy for Wales for the sustainable management of soils
- Expression of interest window dates August 2022
- Sustainable Farming Scheme Outline Proposals ‘on the right track’ says FUW
- FUW calls on UK Governments to tackle five key areas to provide relief for consumers and tackle food and energy security