Budget cuts to CAP 'will only get worse'

Budget cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy will only get worse in the years to come, farmers were told by the Welsh Government’s Director of Agriculture during a recent on-farm meeting.

Andrew Slade, Director of Agriculture, Food and Marine at the Welsh Government, addressed a large crowd of local farmers on-farm near Defynnog recently. In his address he said, “The EU CAP budget will be coming down by about 14% by 2020 in real terms. Further budget cuts to the Common Agricultural Policy post 2020 are likely to follow. The result could mean that less than 30% of the EU budget will be going into agriculture and food production in future.

“Public money is tight and Ministers have the difficult job of making sure the Welsh Government makes best use of it and ensuring that every pound counts. Money isn’t the only major issue we have to consider a growing world population, pressures on natural resources, including water, and climate change will all be major global factors in the years ahead.”

Mr Slade reassured the farmers present however, that even taking all of these factors into consideration, the long term prospects for farming in Wales looked good.

He said negotiations around marketing and promoting Welsh produce were positive and consumers from across the globe are taken by the story behind Welsh produce as well as the quality of the products produced here. Mr Slade added that there was a need and scope to develop new products and new markets for Welsh produce.

Mr Slade went on to discuss the new Rural Development Programme and thanked the leadership of NFU Cymru for their help and guidance, particularly on the EID project announced recently.

Stuart Morris, NFU Cymru Brecon and Radnor County Chairman said, “The way Welsh Government decides how to use the Rural Development Programme fund affects all of us farmers greatly and we appreciate the opportunity to be able to work together for the good of the industry in the future.”

Local members expressed their disappointment however that Welsh Government funding cuts meant the Brecon Welsh Government Office had recently closed and was sorely missed. Colin Millichap, NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor County Vice Chairman said, “We are grateful to Andrew Slade for coming out on-farm to give us the opportunity to air our views on important issues such as the Rural Development Programme directly. Our thanks also should be extended to the Havard family for kindly agreeing to host the meeting.”