NFU Cymru's top ten policy asks for the next General Election

Today NFU Cymru’s President, Stephen James, has outlined Welsh farmers’ Top Ten Policy Asks for the forthcoming General Election.

A Government that understands farm businesses, wants agriculture to grow and has the policies that send the right signals to Welsh farmers, will be the key messages to prospective general election candidates today when the NFU Cymru President launches the Union’s manifesto.

Local representatives from all of Wales’ main political parties are expected to attend this morning’s launch of the manifesto on farm, in Ceredigion.

Stephen James said, “Whilst the majority of farming issues are now determined by devolved Government, there are still some important aspects determined by Westminster. This is our opportunity to set out the actions we would like an incoming Westminster Government to take to allow the industry to respond and change and continue to provide solutions for the nation.”

NFU Cymru’s Top Ten Policy Asks are:

· We would now like to see the Groceries Code Adjudicator equipped with the powers and resources it needs to pro-actively launch investigations in to the conduct of the large supermarkets, and an extension of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice to all links in the supply chain.

· Food labelling is an area where the next Westminster Government must take action. The time is now right for clear and unambiguous, mandatory country of origin labelling to be extended to all fresh and processed meat, as well as all dairy produce and fruit and vegetables.

· The value of public sector food procurement is some £2.2bn annually. The tendency to base procurement decisions predominantly on cost is misguided. It is vital that greater emphasis is placed on quality marks like PGI and assurance standards like the Red Tractor when making procurement decisions.

· There are significant markets for our red meat, such as the US and China which remain largely untapped. It is vital that the next UK Government continues to work with Chinese and US Governments to remove the barriers to exports currently in place and open up these export markets.

· It is vital that our politicians engage with the new Agriculture Commissioner as part of the CAP Simplification process. The new Westminster government must have early input into this process and ensure that unnecessary bureaucracy is not allowed to compromise productive agriculture.

· As farmers we need to be equipped with the right tools in order to meet growing global demand for food. We ask the next UK government to maintain world class expertise and facilities in the research and development fields, and ensure that breakthroughs are effectively translated into on-farm practices that boost our productive capacity.

· Sound science must be at the heart of policy making, and emotion should not be allowed to cloud and shape decision making, whether we are considering GM technology or the future of plant protection products. We look to the next Westminster government to ensure that this is the case both at a domestic and EU level.

· Agriculture is a capital hungry business and we call on the next Westminster Government to introduce a stable Annual Investment Allowance alongside a new Farm Infrastructure Allowance, which both adequately reflect the sectors’ need for capital and also provide tax relief for both agricultural infrastructure and equipment, giving farmers the certainty and confidence they need to invest in the long term future of their businesses.

· In cereals, the use of the futures market has brought greater income stability to the sector. Working with the next Westminster Government we want to expand the use of futures markets to other sectors in order to better manage income volatility.

· Market volatility continues to impact on agriculture, and good years can be followed by poor years. We are asking the next Westminster Government to look at mechanisms such as extended profit averaging, to see how the tax system can better accommodate the peaks and troughs that we see in farm incomes.

Stephen James concluded, “We are delighted that our Extended Profit Averaging Policy Ask has already been delivered as part of last week’s budget announcement. We are very pleased that the Chancellor said that he had listened to the Union and will allow farmers to average their incomes over five years.”