'Extremely worrying times' ahead for farmers, says NFU

Prime Minister David Cameron; Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb; Stephen James, President NFU Cymru & John Davies, Vice President NFU Cymru
Prime Minister David Cameron; Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb; Stephen James, President NFU Cymru & John Davies, Vice President NFU Cymru

With farmers facing significant challenges heading into the winter, the Government is being urged to come forward with proposals for how they intend to use the Rural Development Programme.

“2014 has seen near perfect weather conditions, but volatility on global markets has affected pretty much every farming sector," said John Davies at a Montgomeryshire NFU Cymru meeting in Welshpool.

"Beef prices have been down pretty much all year but are showing signs of recovery, lamb has struggled really badly this summer and we’ve also seen a huge drop in farm-gate milk prices. It is extremely worrying times.

"On top of poor market returns, direct payments are estimated to be around 21% less compared to 2013 as well, making for significant challenges ahead this winter."

“With the combination of factors that we currently face we need projects and schemes up and running to deliver RDP support direct to farm level from the start of the next programme in January 2015. Welsh farmers cannot afford to see support lost from direct payments in December this year without a clear timetable of when they will have the opportunity to recover this support back to their farming businesses.”

“These need to be sensible and straightforward. An example is the recently announced opportunity for farmers to qualify for a voucher that can be used towards the purchase of equipment that will help their businesses adapt to electronic recording requirements. This followed the involvement of NFU Cymru in developing the concept. It is these kinds of measures which will help farming businesses; practical help with simple and straightforward access.”

On farm gate prices, John Davies explained that the NFU is holding regular meetings with all the main retailers and processors to hold them to account, ensuring any price rises go back to farmers and any price falls aren’t used as an excuse for unfair behaviour.

John Davies ended, “Fighting for functioning markets and fairer contracts is ultimately the best way to achieve farm-gate prices that fairly reflect the value of our produce. However it is absolutely vital that retailers and processors live up to their visible commitments and back Welsh farming. What we want to see is real and meaningful commitment to Welsh agriculture from all our retailers, with them giving, Welsh produce, the pride of place it deserves and a fair price back to the producer. The danger otherwise is that the supply of Welsh milk, beef and lamb will simply fall away.”