Agricultural Policy News

Agricultural Policy

HSE guidance on keeping children safe during lockdown

Agricultural Policy

With the closure of schools across the country during the coronavirus pandemic and the likelihood of children being at home on the farm for some time, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is calling on the farming industry to keep children safe.

Most children who are killed or seriously injured in farm incidents are family members. The advice from the HSE includes:

Children should not be allowed in the farm work place. Young children should enjoy outdoor space in a fenced area
Any access to the work area by children under 16, for example for education, knowledge or experience, should be planned and fully supervised by an adult who is not engaged in any other work activity
Children under the age of 13 years are specifically prohibited from driving or riding on any agricultural machinery

Farms are full of many hazards such as vehicles, machinery, large animals, lagoons, dusts and chemicals. Children should not be in contact with any of those unless the risk of injury or bad health is carefully managed and controlled as per the above.

Further information on keeping children safe on farms is available here.

Have your say on how extreme weather events are affecting agriculture

Agricultural Policy

A study being undertaken by Harper Adams aims to examine whether extreme weather events are affecting agricultural practices within Welsh livestock enterprises. The study also seeks to examine whether the support given by the Government is efficient in helping farmers deal with these issues.

Interested members should fill out the survey which is available in both Welsh and English and is open until 14th May.

Entries and nominees are now open for the British Farming Awards

Agricultural Policy

The closing date for entering the British Farming Awards is June 26. Further information is available here.

There are a number of different awards including sheep, beef or dairy innovator of the year, family farming business of the year and farm worker of the year.

Expression of Interest Window Dates

Agricultural Policy

Scheme	Summary	Window Close
SAF Deadline Extension	The SAF deadline has now been extended to 15th June 2020 and all subsequent deadlines which follow will also be extended by a month, including for submitting supporting evidence. Please be aware that the BPS ‘land at your disposal’ date remains 15 May 2020.	15 June 2020
BPS Transfer of Entitlements	You can now transfer BPS entitlements through sale, lease or inheritance via your RPW online account. The recipient of entitlements transferred by sale or lease must meet the Active Farmer requirements (see SAF Rules for details). Due to the covid pandemic, the deadline has been moved from 30 April to 15 May 2020.	15 May 2020
BPS Greening Requirements	The three crop rule crop diversification requirements for the 2020 BPS year will no longer apply. Seed receipts need not be submitted however Ecological Focus Area requirements remain in place. The system cannot be changed at this late date to stop warnings appearing on the SAF when the three crop rule is not met - a message will therefore appear and can be ignored.
Glastir Small Grants: Landscape and Pollinators	Due to the covid pandemic, RPW have confirmed that the deadline for Glastir Small Grants: Landscape and Pollinators capital works has been extended to 30 September 2020 so that work can be conducted in September after the hedge cutting closed period.	30 September 2020
Glastir Woodland Creation (GWC)	The 9th Expression of Interest window is now open for the GWC scheme. The scheme provides financial support for capital works including planting, fencing and in certain circumstances, annual maintenance and premium payments. You must contact a registered planner to discuss your proposals and they must then complete and submit an EOI on your behalf. The land put forward to be planted must be registered with the Rural Payment Wales Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) and be under your full management control. See here for further information and to express an interest.	12 June 2020
Sustainable Production Grant Applications	If you are required to submit a full Sustainable Production Grant (SPG) application and are struggling to complete the paperwork, for example the three quotations for work, as builders aren’t visiting farms or consultants are delayed to undertake nutrient management plans, RPW have stated that “the current advice is that farmers should continue to submit their applications. If you are unable to submit all of the documentation required, you should notify the RPW Customer Contact Centre immediately”.
Farming Connect Funding for Training Application Window	The next funding application for training will open on 4 May and close on 26 June 2020. Those registering for the first time in order to apply for a funded training course or update their account details should contact Farming Connect before 5pm on 22 June 2020.	4th May - 26th June 2020
Dŵr Cymru Pesticide Scheme	Dŵr Cymru have relaunched their free and confidential Pesticide Disposal Scheme for farmers, growers, gamekeepers, foresters and land managers to safely dispose of any wanted or out of date pesticides and herbicides. See here for further information on how to register. Participants that took part in 2019 can take part again in 2020 and dispose of 30L/Kg of eligible products for free.	Extended to 29 May 2020

Consultations Pending

Agricultural Policy

i) Welsh Government code of practice for the welfare of pigs

Welsh Government is running a consultation to give the industry, enforcement agencies, special interest groups and the public an opportunity to comment on the revised Code of Practice for the Welfare of Pigs.

The consultation only contains 2 key questions:

Views on the effects that the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Pigs would have on the Welsh language, specifically on opportunities for people to use Welsh and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than English.
Views on how the proposed Code of Practice for Pigs could be formulated or changed so as to have positive effects or increased positive effects on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language and on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language.

There is a final question which asks for any other related issues which could relate to:

the style, layout and content of the Code
the information, advice and guidance contained

To view the consultation document, revised Code of Practice and to respond, please click here. Deadline for responses is 25 May 2020