2024 began with Welsh farmers expressing concern, worry, frustration and - at times - anger over Welsh Government's proposals within its 'Keep Farmers Farming' consultation. The year ends with similar emotions being expressed over the UK Government's family farm tax changes.
We end the year and begin 2025 with the extreme worry over the removal of the inheritance tax reliefs and the impact it is having on our farming families.
We must stop the UK Government from introducing this family farm tax.
My message to UK Government is simple: pause the proposals, consult with industry and undertake a comprehensive impact assessment that considers the long-term impact of these changes on farming families and food production.
In December, NFU Cymru engaged with a thousand farming businesses as part of our Sustainable Farming Scheme Roadshow events, presenting Welsh Government's revised scheme outline.
Our members recognised the progress that has been made with the development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) since the beginning of the year and I would like to place on record my thanks to the Deputy First Minister for the partnership approach he has established since his appointment in March.
That said, we all recognise that there is much more work to be done to ensure that the SFS will work for all farm sectors, farm types, land areas, for tenant farmers and for those farms with common land, and on the scheme detail to make sure that it is manageable and avoids duplication with other supply chain requirements, including farm assurance.
In particular, members have highlighted the need for the 10% habitat scheme rule to better reflect the wide diversity of temporary and permanent habitats we have on our farms.
They were very clear that hedges and other traditional boundary features must be included within the scheme rule.
Ultimately, the decision to join the scheme or not will depend on payment rates, which must reflect not only the costs associated with adhering to scheme rules and delivering the Universal Actions, but also fairly value the economic, social, cultural and environmental contribution Welsh farming delivers for society. The payment methodology must reflect all four Sustainable Land Management Objectives within the Agriculture (Wales) Act.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583575389/1735797056/articles/87GyLTrJiBkP9S71vCThe5/8101131053.jpg]
I welcome the Deputy First Minister's commitment to a comprehensive economic analysis and impact assessment of the revised proposals to understand what the scheme will mean for farmers and wider society.
This work is vital and NFU Cymru remains clear that the SFS should provide the same level of stability to farm businesses, our rural communities and the supply chain as theBasic Payment Scheme (BPS) does currently.
At a time of significant upheaval, the Deputy First Minister's decision to maintain the BPS at current funding levels for 2025 has provided much needed short-term stability and certainty to Welsh farming, along with the thousands of ancillary businesses that rely on farming for so much of their income.
Looking to the future, we need a multi-annual funding agreement that will provide long-term stability and certainty to farming families. Welsh farming is being asked to deliver more than ever before in relation to food security, climate, nature and communities and we need a budget to ensure we can deliver.
I am pleased that the Welsh Government TB Programme Board met for the first time recently, with Radnor farmer Sharon Hammond as Chair. I welcome the strong representation of farmers and farm vets on the board and this, alongside the positive work of the farmers and vets involved in the Pembrokeshire project and the implementation by government of several of the recommendations of the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group, highlights the ongoing work to make improvements to TB policy.
However, in the 12 months to September 2024, a staggering 12,278 cattle were slaughtered because of bovine TB, an increase of 27% on the previous year and the most over any 12-month period since 2009.
Politics must be taken out of disease control and a science and evidence-led comprehensive TB eradication programme implemented if we are ever going to eradicate this dreadful disease from our countryside.
It is a source of significant regret to us that, almost four years after their introduction, the very serious concerns expressed by NFU Cymru in relation to the Water Quality Regu...
We end the year and begin 2025 with the extreme worry over the removal of the inheritance tax reliefs and the impact it is having on our farming families.
We must stop the UK Government from introducing this family farm tax.
My message to UK Government is simple: pause the proposals, consult with industry and undertake a comprehensive impact assessment that considers the long-term impact of these changes on farming families and food production.
In December, NFU Cymru engaged with a thousand farming businesses as part of our Sustainable Farming Scheme Roadshow events, presenting Welsh Government's revised scheme outline.
Our members recognised the progress that has been made with the development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) since the beginning of the year and I would like to place on record my thanks to the Deputy First Minister for the partnership approach he has established since his appointment in March.
That said, we all recognise that there is much more work to be done to ensure that the SFS will work for all farm sectors, farm types, land areas, for tenant farmers and for those farms with common land, and on the scheme detail to make sure that it is manageable and avoids duplication with other supply chain requirements, including farm assurance.
In particular, members have highlighted the need for the 10% habitat scheme rule to better reflect the wide diversity of temporary and permanent habitats we have on our farms.
They were very clear that hedges and other traditional boundary features must be included within the scheme rule.
Ultimately, the decision to join the scheme or not will depend on payment rates, which must reflect not only the costs associated with adhering to scheme rules and delivering the Universal Actions, but also fairly value the economic, social, cultural and environmental contribution Welsh farming delivers for society. The payment methodology must reflect all four Sustainable Land Management Objectives within the Agriculture (Wales) Act.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583575389/1735797056/articles/87GyLTrJiBkP9S71vCThe5/8101131053.jpg]
I welcome the Deputy First Minister's commitment to a comprehensive economic analysis and impact assessment of the revised proposals to understand what the scheme will mean for farmers and wider society.
This work is vital and NFU Cymru remains clear that the SFS should provide the same level of stability to farm businesses, our rural communities and the supply chain as theBasic Payment Scheme (BPS) does currently.
At a time of significant upheaval, the Deputy First Minister's decision to maintain the BPS at current funding levels for 2025 has provided much needed short-term stability and certainty to Welsh farming, along with the thousands of ancillary businesses that rely on farming for so much of their income.
Looking to the future, we need a multi-annual funding agreement that will provide long-term stability and certainty to farming families. Welsh farming is being asked to deliver more than ever before in relation to food security, climate, nature and communities and we need a budget to ensure we can deliver.
I am pleased that the Welsh Government TB Programme Board met for the first time recently, with Radnor farmer Sharon Hammond as Chair. I welcome the strong representation of farmers and farm vets on the board and this, alongside the positive work of the farmers and vets involved in the Pembrokeshire project and the implementation by government of several of the recommendations of the NFU Cymru TB Focus Group, highlights the ongoing work to make improvements to TB policy.
However, in the 12 months to September 2024, a staggering 12,278 cattle were slaughtered because of bovine TB, an increase of 27% on the previous year and the most over any 12-month period since 2009.
Politics must be taken out of disease control and a science and evidence-led comprehensive TB eradication programme implemented if we are ever going to eradicate this dreadful disease from our countryside.
It is a source of significant regret to us that, almost four years after their introduction, the very serious concerns expressed by NFU Cymru in relation to the Water Quality Regu...
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Daily Post (Digital) - 1 Issue, January 02, 2025