Urgent changes to cross compliance needed to safeguard arable and potato production in Wales, says NFU Cymru

NFU Cymru is repeating calls for the Deputy Minister to make urgent changes to the Cross Compliance regime to safeguard the future of arable and potato production in Wales.

At a meeting scheduled to take place with Rebecca Evans AM, Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, at Pembrokeshire Show this week, Pembrokeshire potato grower and NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire County Vice Chairman, Walter Simon, will raise the issue of Cross Compliance and changes implemented from January 2015, which prohibit winter ploughing and leaving land with a rough surface – a practice that is vital for the production of Pembrokeshire Early Potatoes.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Walter Simon, said, “Changes to cross compliance introduced from January 2015, mean that as arable and potato farmers we are no longer able to winter plough and leave land with a rough surface. This is a long established, widely utilised practice which offers significant environmental and economic benefits including increased water infiltration, reduced run-off, less pesticide usage and improved soil structure.

“This is an issue that NFU Cymru highlighted during the consultation process and we have continued to raise at all levels of Government ever since.

“By its very nature, the new regulation, impacts disproportionately on the arable, horticulture and potato sectors which are important sectors here in Pembrokeshire but also strategically important for Welsh agriculture as a whole. Farmers are now harvesting and turning their attention to their future cropping rotations, so we will be urging the Deputy Minister to ensure the necessary changes to cross compliance are made as quickly as possible to secure the future of these important sectors.”