There must be equity amongst countries
"In principle, the idea of decoupling is sensible, but post 2012, we cannot expect farmers to maintain landscapes without receiving a return, effectively acting as unpaid countryside custodians and the Government must realise this." This was the message David Davies, MP/AM for Monmouth gave in his address at the NFU Cymru Monmouthshire County Conference.
At the well attended meeting, Mr Davies outlined his thoughts on a number of issues relating to agriculture, paying particular attention to the current problems facing the industry.
"In implementing the historic based single farm payment in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government has done a better job in Wales than the Rural Payments Agency has done in England. However, cross compliance measures need to be re-examined and farmers need to be assured that these regulations are enforced and adhered to throughout the EU. There must be equity amongst countries.
"We need to encourage consumers to buy British food. At present certain foods are needlessly imported into this country and any Government must encourage the use of British food which not only has higher welfare standards but with lower carbon emissions is also better for the environment. We should not be accepting food into the EU, let alone the UK if it is not produced to our standards," he said.
With bovine TB rife throughout Monmouthshire, Mr Davies said, "The issue must be handled very sensitively and we must take all arguments into account, however it is imperative that the Government gets a grip on this issue as it is ruining many livestock farmers livelihoods and causing a great deal of financial hardship and worry."
Looking to the future, Mr Davies commented on the use of land for future fuel production. He said, "We can no longer depend on fuel imports from those countries that can stop our supply of oil. We must lower our dependency on other countries. If British land is used to produce biofuels, the amount of land used for agriculture will decrease, leading to higher prices for farmers who will hopefully make a better living from production."
