There is an urgent need to ensure that the EU CAP simplification exercise provides real benefits to farmers on the ground in Wales - that is the message NFU Cymru will give to EU Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan, when representatives meet with him at the Royal Welsh show today.
The implementation of direct payments in Wales, which includes the Greening, Basic Payment Scheme, National Reserve and Young Entrants schemes, has caused no end of confusion for farmers. The complications associated with this year’s single application form have left farmers in fear of hefty penalties that may result from minor inputting errors.
NFU Cymru will ask the Commissioner to urgently reconsider the burden that EU direct payments regulations place on farmers. The Union will also ask how can a farmer remain competitive in an increasingly global market when they have to deal with the increased bureaucracy of the new CAP (Common Agricultural Policy).
NFU Cymru President Stephen James said, “The rushed implementation of a totally new set of schemes in 2015, the lateness of crucial Commission guidance documents and a number of new mapping requirements, leave farmers incredibly concerned as to whether they have properly understood the rules associated with this year’s CAP. It is vital the EU auditors and inspectors are aware of this, and that they accept that none of this was of the farmers doing and they need to provide some tolerances in this, the first year of implementation of the new CAP.”
Mr James continued, “Whilst we welcome the Commissioner’s stated commitment to simplify the current CAP, Welsh farmers are eager for this exercise to begin to deliver genuine simplification back to farm level.
“In a Welsh context we continue to question the relevance of the Ecological Focus Area (EFA) and Crop Diversification elements of Greening. With less than 5% of the land area in Wales down to arable crops we should be encouraging more farmers to consider growing crops to reduce our reliance on bought in feeds, but greening rules actively discourage this.
“It is our view that a derogation for Crop Diversification and EFA could be applied at a regional (Welsh) level and not at a farm level in a similar way to that which has been agreed for permanent grassland.
“With regards to the implementation of the CAP, our members have told us loud and clear that the policy must support productive agriculture, we are disappointed that the current CAP seems to have lost its way in this aspect. We believe that the Commissioner really needs to look at measures to ensure that policies actively support those farmers who are taking the financial and entrepreneurial risk associated with producing food.”
Mr James will also use the visit of the Commissioner to highlight the need for EU dairy intervention thresholds to be increased. Mr James said, “The Commissioner has repeatedly said that he does not believe the EU dairy sector is in crisis, well I can assure him that tomorrow in Builth he will be the only person on the showground that will believe that to be the case. We will ask Commissioner Hogan again to consider reviewing the EU safety net mechanism to ensure that the intervention price is set at a more realistic level to help farmers at this time of crisis.”
NFU Cymru also hopes to raise with the Commissioner, concerns that the Union has regarding negotiations on a trade deal with the US, under what is termed the ‘Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership’ (TTIP). NFU Cymru believes that a TTIP deal could lead to some benefits in opening up markets, in particular for Welsh lamb to the US, but care needs to be taken to ensure that as part of any trade deal imports must be produced to equivalent quality standards as to what we have in the EU and due recognition is given to quality marks.
Stephen James said, “It has been suggested that Protected Geographic Indicators (PGIs) such as PGI Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef may be a stumbling block to reaching agreement. Our message to the EU negotiators involved in this deal is that Wales has invested heavily in growing brands on the basis of the quality of our produce. Before any agreement is made there must be an assurance that PGI status is properly recognised and that the investment the Welsh red meat industry has made in our production methods is not put in jeopardy."
