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How do you see the future of farming in Wales in the context of the mid-term review of CAP reform? -we asked the unions
Peredur Hughes,
President NFU
Cymru Wales
:
So whom do you believe - the
Secretary of State for the
Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs, Margaret Beckett, or Agriculture
Commissioner, Franz Fischier? The
former would have us believe that the
mid-term review exercise will indeed
involve reform and be 'radical' in
approach, whilst the latter has
indicated that it will be a 'stocktake' of
the position involving review.
The truth I suspect lies somewhere between the two and only the publication of the European Commission's proposals in mid June and the inevitable compromise that will emerge from the wrangling of 16 Agriculture Ministers will determine the future of farmers in Wales. One thing for sure is that it is imperative that we seek to influence the direction now before the agenda is set, and NFU Cymru is working with the National Assembly for Wales, with DEFRA and is infiltrating the corridors of power in Brussels and Strasbourg with a view to shaping policy and forging essential alliances.
The signals are that the CAP will move further away from production linked towards more environment based support. The contribution of Welsh farmers is fundamental to maintaining and improving the Welsh countryside, but what the crisis in Welsh agriculture has shown is that farmers' voluntary efforts can no longer be taken for granted and to invest in the environment farming has to be viable. We must be able to produce branded Welsh food of the highest quality and to the highest standards competitively, as well as invest in the environment and a balance has to be struck between the two. A situation where direct or indirect commodity support, whether for beef, sheep or milk, is progressively whittled away and redeployed to schemes that only a minority can access - modulation - is simply not acceptable. Voluntary modulation distorts competition between Member States, it "robs Peter to pay Paul", essential funds are lost in transaction costs and those who are successful in accessing funds lose in cash-flow terms which all detract from farm income.
NFU Cymru will be
striving to secure at individual and
Wales levels historic levels of support
and seeking to put this back through
measures and schemes to which all
Welsh farmers have access and which
reflect directly in improved viability,
only then will the concerns and
interests of all parties be served.
Peredur Hughes,
President NFU
Cymru Wales
Bob Parry,
President,
Farmers' Union of Wales:
The future prosperity of the
traditional family farm has
always been of paramount
importance to the Farmers' Union of
Wales. This continues to be the case
as the proposed reform of the
Common Agricultural Policy returns to
the top of the political
agenda in Europe.
The planned enlargement of the EU is driving forward those who want the CAP and its ś25 billion budget reformed. The FUW is firmly of the view that farmers in Wales should not suffer as a result of this enlargement, and is calling on the National Assembly to support the union in its efforts.
Agriculture is regarded by the FUW as the cornerstone of the entire rural economy. That is why the union believes the National Assembly must press the UK Government to fight hard on behalf of rural Wales during this year's mid term cap review
EU Farm Commissioner, Franz Fischier, has already indicated that the review will focus on sectors that are most prone to problems, namely beef and rye. The focus on the beef sector has stemmed from increasing European surpluses which will result in intervention stocks climbing to a predicted 560,000 tonnes by the end of the year.
The FUW believes that supply controls in the form of quotas are a more sensible means of combatting production than free market forces.
Taking the dairy sector as an example, were milk quotas to be removed there would be a swift and substantial rise in the volume of production which would not only add to the EU's surplus but would also drive market prices down to unreasonable levels.
The union believes that if subsidies
are going to be further decoupled from
production levels in 2006, then the
revised framework must take account of
historic production. The switch from '
headage-based to area-based support in
Less Favoured Areas has had a major
impact on the economic viability of
many traditional family units. Were this
switch to occur with mainstream CAP
support, the consequences for the more
intensively stocked family farms would
be devastating.
–Bob Parry
President
Farmers' Union of Wales