Government support is needed to maintain the communities of rural Wales warns organic farmers

The leading representative group of organic livestock farmers in Wales has responded to the Minister for Rural Affairs comments on the Welsh Assembly Government’s new land management scheme.

In response to an open letter from Graig Producers which highlighted the threat to the livelihoods of family farms the Minister for Rural Affairs Elin Jones has said that "the planned payment rate for the all-Wales element of Glastir for farmers within the Less Favoured Area of Wales (LFA) will be £33.60 per hectare (£28/hectare outside the LFA)."

"The figures quoted by the Minister for payments under Glastir are the same as those used by Graig Producers as the basis for its calculations," says Nigel Elgar, Director and Co-Founder of Graig Producers. "Therefore we stand by our statement that controversial new funding arrangements threaten to decimate the income of many family farms and jeopardise the wildlife habitats created by a decade of environmentally friendly farming.

Graig Producers – a marketing group representing 700 organic livestock producers throughout the UK, including 350 in Wales – has urged the Minister, Elin Jones, to rethink the funding regime for the new Glastir agri-environment scheme announced last month.

Graig Producers has consulted environmental bodies and they all, without exception, have concerns that the new proposals as they stand will not deliver on bio diversity.

"The reality is that farmers, particularly in the less favoured areas that cover 80% of Wales, receive less than the cost of production for their produce," says Nigel Elgar. "Therefore to maintain the landscape, biodiversity and communities of rural Wales government support is required, linked to clear objectives, and that funding has to be at a level to make the achievement of the goals possible.

"There is a myth with the policy making individuals that bigger is more efficient and that inevitably there will be large scale amalgamation for farm businesses. "The Bench Marking exercises funded by the Welsh Assembly show this is not necessarily the case. Smaller or even part-time farms can effectively balance food production and stewardship of the environment and rural communities of Wales.

"Whilst ranching may cut Assembly costs it cannot create or maintain bio diversity, animal welfare or employment in rural areas, which has a knock on effect on local community schools, shops and businesses".

Latest reports suggest that Britain must focus on more home produced food as the effects of global warming will reduce the availability of food from other countries. This requires a vibrant and sustainable British Agriculture. Food systems must become less dependent on fossil fuels, more resilient in the face of climate change, and able to contribute to the Government’s pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Farming based on organic principles can deliver against all three challenges. The Soil Association, the leading organic body, has stated that scientific evidence proves that low input systems, like organic, can provide sustainable solutions to food security.

Graig Producers reiterates its invitation to the Minister for Rural Affairs to visit Nigel Elgar’s Cannon Farm in Montgomeryshire to hear how drastically family farm incomes will be affected and the kind of environmental benefits that are being put at risk.