Industry feeling the pinch of movement restrictions
NFU Cymru President Dai Davies has used his visit to today's Meirionnydd county show to stress the urgent need for further unravelling of sheep and cattle movement restrictions, as hill and upland farms enter their peak marketing period.
The news that collection centres and red meat auctions are ready to come on stream at the end of this week has been welcomed by NFU Cymru, however Mr Davies was keen to point out that the ramifications of the clampdown on movements could last well into next year. "With all current evidence suggesting that the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak has been confined to Southern England, we need to start making it possible for farmers in Wales to move livestock again. If the current control measures continue for much longer, it will cause acute pain for the industry not only for the remainder of this year but also into 2008.
"What's crucial for us here in Wales, especially in an upland area such as Meirionnydd, is that farmers can begin to move sheep down for finishing. We also need to see the resumption of draft ewe sales, store sheep and cattle sales and ram sales. Tomorrow will see crunch talks being held by SCoFCAH to discuss the lifting of the GB export ban. I sincerely hope that we will see some positive signals for the industry by the end of the week so that we can establish a timescale for our exit strategy from the remaining restrictions which are having an increasing stranglehold on beef and sheep farmers. "
Turning to the issue of Sheep Identification, Mr Davies said, "We have had many discussions with the Assembly Government in recent weeks regarding Sheep ID, with a view to developing a simpler system that's easier to implement. However, in the meantime we need to remind farmers that the rules for the remainder of 2007 are unchanged. Sheep ID rules are a part of cross compliance and have the potential to affect the single farm payment, so it's vital that farmers meet current tagging and movement rules and don't jeopardise their position by failing to do so."
Dai Davies also used his presence in Meirionnydd, a county which is nearly wholly classed as Less Favoured Area land, to reinforce NFU Cymru's campaign to defend Wales' Less Favoured Area (LFA) boundaries. Following criticism in 2002 by the European Court of Auditors the European Commission (EC) is likely to draft up proposals by Spring 2008 for the re-designation of LFA boundaries.
Dai Davies said, "The criteria for LFA designation needs to reflect physical handicaps as well as socio-economic conditions. There is now a considerable emphasis on the environment but it has to be remembered that farmers as land managers of the LFA are vital to delivering on this agenda and criteria such as the concentration of active farmers is also relevant.
"NFU Cymru was recently successful in fighting a vigorous and concerted campaign over the LFA budget and we will defend Wales' LFA boundaries with equal vigour."
