[caption id="attachment_7807" align="alignleft" width="200"] FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright[/caption]

The Cross Compliance penalty regime for bovine TB tests have been branded ‘immoral’ by the Farmers’ Union of Wales, which says the penalties add significantly to the health and safety risks of testing cattle.

From January 1, 2015, tiered cross compliance penalties for late TB testing have seen cattle keepers receive financial penalties in relation to the number of days a TB test is late.  However, the failure of the system to take account of test delays caused by health and safety concerns means farmers can be penalised for situations which are outside of their control.

The revelation comes despite repeated warnings by the FUW that such circumstances should be taken into account, and assurances given by Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths in response to correspondence that “...some situations which lead to a TB test becoming overdue are unavoidable and the processes in place acknowledge this fact.”

Dr Hazel Wright, FUW Senior Policy Officer, said: “The application of zero-tolerance financial penalties for tests that have had to be delayed for justifiable health and safety reasons is shamefully inappropriate, and basically means there is a financial penalty for farmers who fail to place themselves and their vets in harm’s way.”

Where a TB test has to be abandoned due to circumstances which could endanger lives - for example, where animals become dangerously agitated - animals will invariably miss the bovine TB testing window due to the need to wait a further 60 days before retesting.

Testing cattle for TB prior to this 60 day window is not permitted under current domestic and EU law as it would render the test invalid.

However, under the regulations all tests which are more than 30 days overdue are subject to a 5 percent penalty, with the failure being categorised as a ‘severe breach’ of Cross Compliance - placing farmers in a ‘Catch 22’ situation where they can either risk health and safety or incur a financial penalty.

Dr Wright added: “Reports of injuries during TB testing are common and there have sadly been a number of fatalities across the UK during TB testing.

“When the current regime was consulted upon in 2014, the FUW made it clear that penalties should not be applied where the failure to test was outside the control of the cattle keeper. Since then, the issue has been raised repeatedly with Welsh Government officials, and we have also written to Cabinet Secretary Lesley Griffiths regarding the matter.

“It seem that our concerns are being ignored and in a way which makes a mockery of the Welsh Government’s commitment to the Wales Farm Safety Partnership.”

[caption id="attachment_7797" align="alignleft" width="300"] Byron Davies MP, FUW President Glyn Roberts and Craig Williams MP[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales officials reinforced the difference between Wales and England in terms of agriculture, at the Welsh Conservative Party Spring Conference in Cardiff.

Speaking at the event was FUW President Glyn Roberts, who said: “Agriculture in the UK and in Wales has to be profitable and sustainable. In Wales the family farm is the cornerstone of much of our agriculture and our way of life. Far more so than in England. Therefore we must ensure that the role of such farms in rural Wales is recognised.

“Welsh agriculture fundamentally differs in terms of need, product and social importance. Hence why we can’t have an ‘England Centric’ policy once we leave the EU. We need the UK Government to appreciate the difference and repatriate powers from Brussels to the Welsh Government, ideally within a new UK framework.”

The Union President further highlighted that the Farmers’ Union of Wales is the only Union that speaks exclusively on behalf of Welsh farmers, without fear or favour, unfettered by sectional or external financial interests.

He said that given the political uncertainty and the unclear future facing farming, one must remember why the FUW is in existance. "This Union was formed in 1955 when the voice of Welsh farming was not being heard in London. We will not let that voice go unheard again.

“So this is exactly what we will continue to do -  we will fight for the survival of farming in Wales and those businesses who derive an income from agriculture. Let us not forget that Welsh agriculture’s gross output is almost £1.5 Billion and that the food and drinks exports are worth £302 million to the economy of Wales.

[caption id="attachment_7798" align="alignright" width="300"] Byron Davies MP, Darren Millar AM, FUW Gwent CEO Glyn Davies, Nick Ramsey AM and Paul Davies AM[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_7799" align="alignleft" width="300"] David Melding AM with FUW President Glyn Roberts[/caption]

“There are things happening in regards to our exit from the EU. Whilst the focus will be on the big issues of exit negotiations, there are critical UK issues that need to be resolved through discussion and agreement with devolved nations.

“But, we can work in parallel and continue to plan our future here at home and that’s why I urge our devolved administrations to work together closely and with a sense of urgency in developing the necessary UK agricultural framework,” added Glyn Roberts.

The Union President proceeded to say that: “If we value our communities, our public services, our countryside, our heritage, our schools and our jobs, then we must protect them.

“We can have a prosperous future for the sector after we leave the EU and there are plenty of opportunities to be explored but a lot of it depends on the willingness of our politicians to recognise how different farming across the devolved nations is and that they have very different requirements.”

[caption id="attachment_7792" align="alignleft" width="198"] FUW President Glyn Roberts[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is calling on urgent economic modelling work to be carried out, following the admission by Rt Hon. David Davis MP, Secretary of State, Department for Exiting the European Union, that the UK Government has done no economic assessment of crashing out of the EU with ‘no deal’.

Giving evidence to MPs (Wednesday, March 15), Mr Davis insisted it was not possible to calculate the impact of the Brexit talks failing – adding: “I may be able to do so in about a year’s time.”

The Brexit Secretary dismissed the Treasury’s pre-referendum forecasts of an economic crash if Britain left the EU with no fresh trade agreement.

However, when he was asked by the chairman of the Brexit select committee, if a new assessment had been carried out, Mr Davis replied: “Under my time, no.”

The admission came despite Mr Davis ordering Cabinet colleagues to prepare for what is widely seen as the growing prospect of negotiations with EU leaders breaking down.

FUW President Glyn Roberts responded saying: “This is extremely worrying. We are about 2 weeks away from triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and our UK Government has no plan as to what will happen if we don’t strike a positive deal with the European Union.

“If the status quo remains and we continue to have tariff-free access to the EU, then of course there is not much the agricultural sector has to worry about from a trade point of view.

“However, if things don’t go to plan, and we know that Prime Minister Theresa May has already said she would walk away with no-deal, rather than a bad deal, we will find ourselves operating under World Trade organisation (WTO) rules.

“And that’s where it gets difficult, as we could face tariffs of up to 40%. Nobody knows what will happen if we don’t get a deal. Of course, we can fall of the cliff edge and operate under WTO rules but what will that mean for our economy?

“We urgently need some modelling work to be carried out to assess the potential impact on how many businesses will go out of business, how many jobs will be lost and how much money our rural economies will be losing out on.

“Both the UK and Welsh Government must do some spade work to assess the situation and explore different options. We have asked for this work to be undertaken even before the referendum result was announced. Comments like those made by David Davis are in that sense extremely unhelpful.”

“The recent Annual Farm Business Survey tells us that the average farm business income dropped by 23% to £22,000 in 2015-16 compared to the previous year. If we have the nightmare scenario of no access to EU markets that means that, for example, sheep meat producers will lose 35-40% of their market overnight.

“That can only cause severe pain to both the farmers concerned and also to other rural businesses. We must develop models to understand that impact. The economic and social cost of some scenarios could be enormous."

[caption id="attachment_7792" align="alignleft" width="198"] FUW President Glyn Roberts[/caption]

The announcement that plans to increase National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for self-employed people have been dropped, is welcome news for the farming community, according to the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

The increase as proposed in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget, would have hit the low and middle earning self-employed and as the majority of Welsh family farms are classed as such, the measure would have done little to support rural businesses.

Today, Chancellor Philip Hammond has said the government will not proceed with the increases which were criticised for breaking a 2015 manifesto pledge.

In a letter to Tory MPs, he said: "There will be no increases in... rates in this Parliament."

Responding to the news, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Common sense has prevailed and we welcome the U-turn on the proposed increase in NICs.

“This increase would have hit farmers across the UK badly, and that at a time when they are already having to cope with an increase in business rates, which of course is devolved to Wales. Add to that the uncertainty around future agricultural support and those making a living from agriculture are not being put in the most favourable financial conditions. We therefore thank the Chancellor for revoking this nonsensical increase.”