NFU Cymru President's New Year message
NFU CYMRU PRESIDENT’S NEW YEAR MESSAGE
Dai Davies, NFU Cymru President, delivers his ’wish list’ for 2010:
CAP Reform and EU Budget – Discussions will continue in 2010 on CAP Reform post 2013. We have welcomed news that Wales can continue its historic approach to the Single Farm Payment up to and including 2013, but fully recognise the signals from Europe that post 2013 there will probably be a shift towards an area based payment. We need to ensure that we secure as long a transitional period as possible and minimise the redistribution of funds. NFU Cymru will endeavour to do this through its unrivalled lobbying in Cardiff, Westminster and crucially our dedicated office in Brussels. Negotiations begin in 2010 on the CAP budget for 2014 - 2020. It is crucial that Welsh farmers get the best deal possible from these negotiations as support for the successor Single Farm Payment scheme and Glastir are largely delivered from these funds.
Bovine TB – 2010 will be the year when hopefully we can finally begin to remove all sources of infection of this horrid disease. If we are to halt the steady escalation of this pernicious disease, and turn the disease into a declining one, with the ultimate objective of eradication, then as I have said all along we have to deal with the problem in the round.
EID – NFU Cymru has fought hard against the introduction of compulsory EID (electronic identification) and individual recording of sheep and sadly didn’t get the result we wanted, but, I do believe that many of the concessions agreed would not have been achieved if it hadn’t been for the tenacious and continuous lobbying of NFU Cymru, working with colleagues throughout the UK and Europe.
We will continue to lobby to reduce the impact of this regulation on producers, in particular with regards to the potential impact on Cross Compliance inspections.
Market Issues – NFU Cymru hopes that confidence will continue to return to the beef and sheep sectors in 2010 and that producer milk prices will pick up following the recent rises on world commodity markets. There is no doubt 2009 has been a desperately poor year for milk and we need to see Welsh farmers get their share of the EU 300 million Euro milk fund as soon as possible so that producers are given some help in the short term. Clearly, we still have major problems with the workings of the food supply chain and let us hope that 2010 can finally be the year when an Ombudsman is introduced to deliver fairness and transparency to the relationship between producer, processor and retailer.
Glastir – NFU Cymru has numerous concerns relating to the implementation of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Glastir scheme and has serious doubts about whether it can be delivered on time. We will continue to commit all our efforts to ensuring the Welsh Assembly Government implements a scheme that is genuinely open to all farmers in Wales and that is practical and workable at farm level. Our over-riding concern however is to get the detail of the scheme right rather than to meet an overly ambitious timetable.
NFU Cymru is constantly striving to meet the best interests and particular needs of its members and we will continue to fight on their behalf on all of these matters and more in the year ahead. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
