THE Farmers' Union of Wales has welcomed the Welsh Government's "sensible" approach to the planned introduction of buffer zones alongside watercourses to tackle water pollution from agriculture.

"We were concerned that the Welsh Government would 'gold plate' a new Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) and adopt higher standards than the European minimum," said FUW deputy director of agricultural policy Rhian Nowell-Phillips.

"So we are pleased that the deputy agriculture minister has taken heed of the FUW's lobbying and decided to implement only the minimum requirement for farmers in Wales."

It will mean that, from January 1 2012, all farmers who claim payments under the Single Payment Scheme will be prohibited from spreading inorganic fertilisers within two metres of the surface of a watercourse and manures within 10 metres. Application of manures will also be prohibited within 50 metres of boreholes, springs and wells.

"We felt strongly that the original proposals to increase the minimum standard imposed by Europe were not backed up by scientific evidence and we urged the Welsh Government not to gold plate cross-compliance regulations and adopt a higher standard than the minimum required," Ms Nowell-Phillips added.

[caption id="attachment_4578" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Dilwyn John[/caption]

Newly-elected chairman of Farmers' Union of Wales' common land committee Dilwyn John today described the implications of abolishing Less Favoured Area (LFA) payments in favour of the Glastir agri-environment scheme as severely threatening for commoning communities.

Mr John, a past FUW Brecon and Radnor county chairman, farms around 240 acres at Dan Y Graig Farm, Cwmtaff, Merthyr Tydfil, and has grazing rights on Vaynor commons for 1,500 sheep.

Together with his wife, Beth, he runs a flock of 700 South Wales Mountain ewes.

"At a meeting of the common land committee delegates described a wide range of problems they were experiencing in trying to access Glastir, all of which represent a major barrier for graziers associations in areas where farm incomes are set to drop significantly when Tir Mynydd is abolished," said Mr John.

"Wales has the highest proportion of common land in the UK, and around 18 per cent of Welsh farms declare common land annually. The EU rules governing schemes such as Glastir mean there are inherent obstacles to many commons entering Glastir and in some areas these are insurmountable."

Mr John said that in some areas the involvement of inactive graziers who had previously shown no interest in a common was splitting communities and preventing access to the scheme.

"Other examples of problems include those with very few rights outvoting genuine graziers, because the European Commission has refused to accept that the more rights you have the more control you have of a common.

"This means people with grazing rights for just a few animals can, in some cases, have the same power as graziers who are farming a common and have rights to graze thousands of animals."

Members have also experienced obstacles as a result of the Countryside Council of Wales refusing to allow commoners to change grazing patterns in order to access Glastir while others believed that changes to grazing regimes could damage environments and result in major fire risks.

"Glastir is a dog's dinner and a recipe for disaster for many commons, with many of the problems being a direct result of the EC's failure to accept that our system of commoning is unique and requires rules which are far more tailor made," Mr John added.

"The abolition of Tir Mynydd, combined with the Welsh Government's failure to persuade the EU to make allowances for these unique farming systems, means a disaster for many of our most vulnerable upland communities."

[caption id="attachment_4575" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dai Miles[/caption]

The opening of a new £1.5 million dairy in Carmarthenshire that will process and bottle up to 10 million litres of milk each year was welcomed by the Farmers' Union of Wales today.

The Proper Welsh Milk Company officially opened the dairy in Whitland. It is the first to be built in Wales for more than a generation.

FUW Pembrokeshire county branch president and director of The Proper Welsh Milk Company Dai Miles said: "The opening of the new dairy is excellent news for the Welsh dairy industry.

"All of our milk is sourced from local farms and will reach Welsh stores within 24 hours of collection.

"There is a lot of high quality milk being produced in Wales but the trouble is that most of it has been bottled and processed in England and then it has to make the journey back here to Wales.

"Twenty or 30 years ago there was probably a dairy in every Welsh town but as road networks grew so the smaller dairies were closed.

"This left only a couple of units in North Wales and some very small operations in the South, meaning that almost every pint of milk you've drunk lately has travelled hundreds of miles," said Mr Miles.

"Having the new dairy here means that we can reduce journey times and mileage for getting our milk from the farm to the consumers and it will boost jobs. In the current economic climate and rising fuel costs this is great news for farmers and consumers.

"Welsh dairy farmers have a limited range of options when looking to sell their milk and often have to accept unfair and unclear contracts, which requires them to sell all their milk to just one buyer who has the monopoly over the price they are willing to pay for the milk.

"We are currently looking for more conventional milk suppliers and in future we hope to diversify into higher value dairy products," added Mr Miles.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed deputy agriculture minister Alun Davies' statement following the union's lobbying over farmers' fears that they would be penalised if they withdrew from the Glastir land management scheme should compulsory greening be introduced as a result of CAP reform.

"We have been lobbying the Minister since the publication of the CAP 'greening' proposals as we were concerned those farmers entering Glastir could be disadvantaged if, after 2014, the things they were being paid for under Glastir became compulsory under the new greening element of the CAP," said FUW land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams.

"The fact that farmers will now be able to withdraw from their agreements if this becomes a reality is a positive move as is the clarification that any capital items already undertaken can be reimbursed in full," said Mr Williams, of Llynfaes, Anglesey.

"Farmers were concerned that as they had to undertake their capital works early in the scheme agreement, if the scheme then became untenable due to the CAP reforms they would be out of pocket as payments for the works are paid over the five years of the agreement.

"The FUW has lobbied hard on this issue, so we welcome his announcement that Glastir contracts will allow farmers to withdraw from the scheme without penalty or repayment should substantive changes to the scheme be introduced as a consequence of the possible 'greening' of Pillar 1 payments of the CAP.

"We are pleased that the Minister has offered this re-assurance to farmers considering signing up to Glastir this year that they will not be disadvantaged," Mr Williams added.