NFU Cymru Launches Elections Manifesto

Ed Bailey, NFU Cymru President, will today launch the organisation’s National Assembly for Wales Election Manifesto on the mid-Wales dairy farm of Jonathan Wilkinson.

Local representatives from all of Wales’ four main political parties are expected to attend this morning’s launch of the manifesto which sets out the priorities the Union has identified for the Welsh Government’s next term.

In his introduction to the manifesto Ed Bailey said, ’The last decade or so has been a turbulent one for Welsh farming, as we have witnessed the various sectors moving in and out of profitability. It is vital that farming profitability is restored across the board, for without it farmers simply cannot hope to re-invest in their businesses, attract successors and newcomers, all of which we need if we are to secure the future of farming in Wales.

’Farming faces a significant twin challenge over the coming years. We need to produce more in order to feed a growing world population whilst impacting less on the natural environment. We look to the next government not only to help nurture the self confidence that is needed within Welsh agriculture to meet these challenges but also to create an environment that will encourage investment, innovation and new entrants, thereby securing farming’s future, and delivering on strategic objectives key not only to farmers but to the Welsh people also. My message to politicians of all persuasions is that they must realise that unless farming is profitable then it is simply not sustainable.’

The key issues NFU Cymru has outlined in its manifesto include: A holistic approach to bovine TB; Red tape and Bureaucracy; the Common Agricultural Policy post 2013, supporting the Welsh food sector; climate change and access to rural broadband.