Different signals are confusing farmers
"Farmers need consistent and clear messages from politicians and Government, too many of the signals we receive at present are contradictory, we are told we need to double food production to feed a rising world population but at the same time the message from our politicians often appears to focus purely on environmental measures," said Eifion Davies, Meirionnydd NFU Cymru County Chairman at the county Annual General Meeting.
Elfyn Llwyd, Member of Parliament in Westminster for the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency sympathised with Mr Davies’ concerns during his address as key speaker. Elfyn Llwyd said, "I understand the frustration farmers have, while I believe the environment is important, at the end of the day we must get the balance between food production and the environment right to ensure a healthy future not only for agriculture but for the whole rural economy."
During his key note speech the local MP also spoke about his disappointment with what Caroline Spelman said in her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, where she argued for a fundamental reform of the CAP in order to reward farmers who do more to protect the environment.
Elfyn Llwyd added, "On the back of rising global demand for food it is wrong of the Secretary of State to call for a reduction in the support that underpins food production and say that the reform proposals as set out recently by the European Commission should be more ambitious in terms of the environment."
"In my opinion, as far as Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 of the CAP are concerned, we must ensure that both are funded correctly and fairly, with Pillar 1 firmly focussed on sustaining food production and Pillar 2 rewarding farmers for their environmental work. There are long discussions ahead but I am confident that our Celtic neighbours in Scotland and Northern Ireland will look at things somewhat similar to us and I sincerely hope that the DEFRA Secretary of State will come round to supporting that view.
"One thing is for sure I certainly do not want to see the day come when we must import poorer food products into the UK because we have not put in place a policy that adequately supports domestic food production."
