The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has described a Welsh Government weather summit held at the Royal Welsh Show as an important step in terms of taking action to minimise current and future impacts of the weather on Wales’ agriculture industry.

Speaking after the summit, which was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths and attended by farming organisations and rural charities, government officials, Natural Resources Wales, Dŵr Cymru/Welsh Water and others, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “A number of extreme weather derogations have been granted by Welsh Government following our requests in June, and we had called for this summit to take place in early July.

“This was therefore a welcome next step, and a number of further actions which could be taken were discussed at the meeting.

In a meeting with Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths, the Farmers’ Union of Wales has stressed the need for urgent contingency planning to buffer the potential harmful consequences of a hard Brexit.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Both the Welsh Government and FUW are in full agreement that allowing us to leave the EU without retaining full access to the Single Market would be catastrophic.

“We had a very frank discussion with the Cabinet Secretary about the risks of a hard Brexit and current speculation that such an outcome may be more likely than was previously the case.”

Mr Roberts said that the barriers to selling into the EU market due to a hard Brexit could have a similar impact on livestock prices to the export bans introduced in 2001 and 2007 as a result of Foot and Mouth disease.

In a special meeting with Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns and Defra Secretary Michael Gove the Farmers’ Union of Wales has highlighted the need for further clarity on how agricultural funding will be allocated to Wales after Brexit.

Speaking after the meeting, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Both Secretaries of State have provided assurances that Wales will receive the same allocation of agricultural funding until 2022, and that this would take place outside the Barnett Formula.”

Mr Roberts said that this had been a key message of the FUW’s #FairFarmFunding campaign, and that the repeated assurances are very welcome.

Monday July 23 marked the return of tens of thousands of visitors to Llanelwedd, where the Royal Welsh Show commenced in a flurry of activity.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys Dafydd Llywelyn helped kick-start proceedings, as he welcomed a panel of experts to discuss matters of rural and wildlife crime with members of the public. The panel consisted of six members from key stakeholders and commentators, including Natural Resources Wales, North Wales Police, Farmers' Union of Wales, Chief Constable Mark Collins of Dyfed-Powys Police, the Wales lead for Wildlife Crime and Rural Affairs, Gwent Police, and the veteran agriculture broadcaster and journalist, Anna Jones.

The Forum coincided with the publishing of the 2018 National Rural Crime Network Survey 2018, which revealed that low expectations, under reporting, perceived poor response and outcomes as well as worry are all contributing factors to an increased fear of crime amongst our rural communities. Furthermore, results shows that around a third of crimes in rural areas go unreported to Police, and is rising. The judgement was unanimous; to address this, agencies must take a proactive approach toward policing rural areas, and that this must be reflected in organisational policy and decision making.

The announcement that the Wales Farm Safety Partnership will receive £46,000 to promote Health and Safety within the agricultural and forestry sector, has been described as a milestone in tackling the problem by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

The funding will be used to support the Partnership’s campaign ‘Working together to make farming safer’.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “This is a milestone in tackling the issue of farm safety and I welcome the announcement wholeheartedly.

Farmers from all over Wales enjoyed a constructive meeting with Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths, focusing strongly on the recently launched Welsh Government consultation paper on post-Brexit agricultural and land use policies.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “This was a constructive meeting and we have raised numerous concerns about what is being proposed in this consultation document and our members have been quite outspoken about some of the proposals.