Exactly one year since their first visit, Farmers’ Union of Wales Gwent county chairman Wayne Langford has welcomed Plaid Cymru Senedd Members for South Wales East, Delyth Jewell and Peredur Owen Griffiths, back to his lambing shed to discuss the most critical farming matters.

Whilst keeping an eye on Wayne’s Welsh Mountain ewes and lambs, conversation quickly turned to the pressure of rising input costs. Since the Senedd Members last visited Wayne at Penrhyn in Trefil, ‘Agflation’ hit highs of 26% over the summer, and although it is now declining, the pressure of increased input costs remains a concern.

Tight profit margins are even more concerning given the uncertainty surrounding the future of farm support schemes in Wales. The FUW has repeatedly voiced concerns over the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme and in particular the ability for tenants, new entrants, and commoners to access the scheme.

Wayne, who grazes livestock on Llangynidr common explained: “There are so many benefits to my cattle grazing on the common. Not only do we manage the landscape but there are biodiversity gains too, for instance we’ve seen the return of curlews. The future scheme needs to support farmers to continue this on common land.”

FUW Regional Vice President, Brian Bowen added: “The Agriculture (Wales) Bill and Sustainable Farming Scheme will be key in keeping farming families in Wales producing food. I often hear that farmers aren’t sure if they have a future in the industry. It’s important that all farms are eligible to enter the SFS, and that it is economically viable to do so. Without that, we won’t achieve the environmental aims of the Bill and the Scheme.”

The Senedd members also heard how vitally important it is to have a prosperous and thriving industry which encourages new entrants to the sector. This has been a key message from the FUW in the SFS co-design and in the scrutiny process of the Agriculture (Wales) Bill, which is currently making its way through the Senedd.

Wayne added: “Without placing emphasis on the economic viability of the industry, how can we expect young people to have aspirations in farming? Once again, this brings us back to the Agriculture (Wales) Bill and the SFS offering a future of thriving family farms, and I’m genuinely worried about the consequences if we don’t achieve that.”

Anglesey dairy farmer and long serving vice President of the Farmers’ Union of Wales, Eifion Huws, has been made a life member of the FUW.

Mr Huws was awarded life member status at a meeting of the Council of the Union which was held in Aberystwyth on Wednesday 29 March.

Eifion Huws farms at Penrhos, Bodedern, a dairy farm which previously kept a herd of pedigree Ayrshire. The dairy herd had an outstanding production and show record, and Eifion is a long established and highly respected Ayrshire cattle judge.

He has been an active Member of the Union’s central Finance and Organisation Committee and was Chairman of the Union’s Milk and Dairy Produce Committee between 2004 and 2011. Eifion has also represented the FUW on the national Dairy UK Farmers’ Forum.

During his long standing service to the Union, Eifion has travelled the length and breadth of the country, and often to Cardiff, London and Europe to represent the dairy industry and the views of the FUW whilst attempting to ensure better support and prices for farmers.

He was awarded the 2011/2012 FUW internal award for services to the Union and the agricultural industry in Wales and he was also selected as the winner of the FUW/HSBC Bank award for outstanding contribution to the Welsh dairy industry.

Eifion’s wealth of knowledge within the industry is second to none. His energy, enthusiasm and passion for the dairy industry knows no bounds and his renowned ability to support his fellow farmers is priceless.

Speaking about Mr Huws’s election to life member, FUW President Glyn Roberts said:

“Eifion has been a long serving, loyal stalwart of the Union. Every time I needed Eifion to deputise for me on Union business he has always risen to the occasion. His commitment, tenacity and unwavering passion for the dairy industry and farming in Wales is an inspiration and this honour is very well deserved. He follows in his fathers footsteps as a life member.”

The FUW is calling on the Welsh Government to evaluate and review current cattle control measures following the statement released today (28 March) in which the Minister outlined plans to launch a refreshed delivery plan which would set out the Welsh Government's approach to TB eradication over the next 5 years.

The 5 year plan aims to build upon “the comprehensive armoury of measures underway” as part of an overall programme which aims to see a TB-Free Wales by 2041.

Following repeated calls from the FUW, the Welsh Government established national TB eradication targets for each of the TB Areas in Wales in 2017.

Dr Hazel Wright, FUW Deputy Head of Policy, said: “The 6 year regional goals set out by the Welsh Government as part of these targets aimed to see Wales become Officially TB Free between 2036 and 2041, with the aim of transferring spatial units from Higher TB Areas into Lower TB Areas, thereby expanding the Low TB Area of Wales. However, since these targets were established, we have seen this disease spread and encroach upon the Low TB Areas of Wales.

“Sadly, recent surveillance data shows an emerging area of concern in Anglesey where annual incidence reached an eight-year high in 2021.”

In response, the Welsh Government plans to bring forward legislation to reintroduce Pre-Movement Testing for cattle movements within and from the Low TB Area. This is alongside other changes such as extending the requirement for Post-Movement Testing in the Intermediate TB Areas and more rigorous contiguous testing regime for herds neighbouring a TB breakdown.

“The FUW is once again concerned that the new delivery plan will continue to focus on increasing the raft of cattle controls conferred upon cattle keepers. The FUW believes that an essential part of any future policy must include an evaluation of current control measures as a matter of urgency in order to identify those cattle controls which have a high cost to the industry whilst having a minimal impact on disease control and spread.

“The Union believes that the Welsh Government should use the new TB Technical Advisory Group to conduct such evaluation, alongside determining the expected impact on cattle welfare and human health and safety due to the increased gathering and handling required to comply with additional testing proposals.”

In its response to the 2022 Refreshed TB Programme consultation, the FUW reiterated its commitment to working with the Welsh Government to make meaningful progress on bovine TB eradication. The Union was therefore extremely disappointed to note that the new governance arrangements for bovine TB control will include public appointments to both the Programme Board and Technical Advisory Group.

“Given that the TB programme Board is responsible for providing direction and management of the TB Programme, the Union therefore notes with dismay the continued appetite of the Welsh Government for group stakeholder membership which involves a public appointment process.

“In order to facilitate partnership working on both the direction and management of future TB control in Wales, the FUW believes that industry involvement in the Programme Board is essential in order to ensure true partnership working. Whilst we welcome the opportunity to engage in elements of the programme, we believe that greater more holistic involvement is needed to make further strides towards a TB free Wales.”

In its response to the 2022 Refreshed TB Programme consultation, the FUW also previously called for the establishment of a Risk Based Trading working group and the Union therefore welcomes the commitment from the Minister to engage with stakeholders on both TB payments and Informed Purchasing.

“Whilst the FUW does not oppose the principle of risk based trading, we remain concerned about proposals which are either too crude to be useful or too technical to be usable. Discussions surrounding risk based trading must recognise the balance between the need for information, the burden of collating such information and the resultant detrimental effects on some herds.

“However, the FUW continues to fundamentally reject any proposals to move to tabular TB compensation payments on the grounds that it would be unjust and could result in payments that are below the true value of animals.”

The FUW continues to stress that valuing animals in such a simplistic way could never constitute a fair system, since some producers are likely to be underpaid, while others would be overpaid. Moreover, animals that are placed on the market do not necessarily reflect the standards of those that remain on farm, particularly in the case of pedigree herds. Therefore, the provision of compensation pertaining to average market values may not reflect the true value of the animals taken and could act as a disincentive to keeping higher value animals; particularly in areas where TB is prevalent.

“At present, farmers are compensated only for the direct market value of the animal slaughtered. No compensation is offered for the additional costs incurred such as lost revenue, loss of milk production, loss of breeding lines, delays to re-stocking and movement restrictions. These consequential losses suffered by a producer whose animals are compulsorily purchased can be significant and run into tens of thousands of pounds and any further reduction in the compensation paid will undoubtedly render some farms unviable.

“It is essential that future control and eradication plans consider TB science, cattle welfare, farmer wellbeing and farm finances in equal measure in order to deliver a sustainable and pragmatic programme of TB control for Wales,” added Dr Wright.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales’ Presidential Policy team welcomed a real terms increase of around 14% to Wales’ rural affairs budget when they recently met to discuss the most critical farming matters facing the sector.

The Union previously voiced its concern that the Welsh Government draft budget for the 2023-24 financial year suggested that the budget for rural affairs would decrease by £9 million compared with the indicative budget published in March 2022, which in real terms represented a much greater fall.

However, in the final Welsh Government budget for the 2023-24 period published in February this year, the rural affairs budget sits at £482 million.

That’s 23% more than the allocation for rural affairs for 2022-23 (£393 million), £26 million more than the indicative budget from March 2022 and £35 million more than stated in the draft budget.

With UK Consumer Price Inflation sitting at around 9% for the 12 months to January 2023, this represents a real terms increase in the budget for rural affairs in Wales of around 14% and was much welcomed by the Union.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Financial stability and clarity is essential when it comes to running a business, especially for the farming sector that continues to face staggeringly high inflation rates for agricultural inputs. We therefore publicly raised concerns last year regarding potential cuts to the Welsh Government’s Rural Affairs budget and we welcome the fact that these concerns have been addressed.

“However, it is essential that the Welsh Government spends this budget responsibly. Welsh agriculture is facing huge challenges in terms of an acute rise in input costs as well as the costs of new regulations introduced by the Welsh Government.

“We have also lost around £250 million from the CAP replacement due to the UK Government’s decision to cut what we would normally have received from the EU, so it is essential that this extra allocation to the rural affairs budget is used to fund actions and interventions which make up for these significant losses.”