The Agriculture Bill is currently progressing through the House of Lords.

An attempt to introduce a clause requiring that any agricultural or food product imported into the UK under a trade agreement be produced to animal health and welfare, plant health and environmental protection standards equivalent to those in the UK was opposed by the UK Government and defeated during the Third Reading of the Bill on the 13th May 2020.

The Union is urging all members to go to THIS PAGE and send the FUW letter provided to your local MP and representatives in order to lobby for the proposed Clause 2 to be introduced into the Agriculture Bill before it receives Royal Assent.

Failure for such a change to be made to the Bill will have long term adverse impacts for UK and Welsh farmers, consumers and for domestic food security.

The latest figures from Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) indicate that the Welsh lamb sector is beginning to feel the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the FUW has been aware that the impact of covid-19 could reach different sectors at different times and has highlighted this in numerous stakeholder meetings. There remains significant concern that the lamb sector will be much harder hit later in the year when the supply of lamb peaks.

Up to the week ending 20th June 2020, the throughput of New Season Lambs (NSL) were up by around 15% year on year and liveweight (LW) prices were down by 10 pence per kilogram (kg) on the week in line with seasonal trends. GB prime lamb deadweight (DW) prices saw a more significant decline of 24p/kg on the week but remained 16p/kg above the 5 year average, although Kantar Worldpanel figures during the twelve weeks to 17 May show a drop in total spend on lamb by 15%.

The National Office of Animal Health (NOAH) has - in collaboration with industry Stakeholders - provided an Animal Medicines Best Practice (AMBP) Programme which includes farmer training to support the responsible use of antibiotics across UK farms.

The use of antibiotics in animals for food production has fallen by 27% since 2014; meeting the UK Government’s target two years early.

The programme, aimed towards farmers and vets, includes raising awareness, knowledge and understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and aims to help drive best practice when using antibiotics.

Training modules are available to access here or direct from Lantra here.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have prepared a dry weather advice document for farmers who are experiencing agricultural drought.

Agricultural drought is considered when a lack of rainfall and soil moisture has an impact on farming activities including crop failure, grass growth and animal welfare.

The advice includes sections on the following:

• Abstraction of Water
• Potential Alternative Sources Across Wales
• Licence Variations
• Section 57 Spray Irrigation Restrictions
• Sustainable Land Management
• Alternative Sources of Animal Bedding
• Avoiding Agricultural Pollution in Hot Weather

The advice document is available upon request by emailing: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by contacting your local FUW County Office.