The announcement comes after drought status was extended to parts of Mid and North Wales last week, bringing the entire country under drought measures. Wales is also on course to experience its driest July in almost 190 years.
'Drought' is declared by NRW when a combination of indicators show a significant shortage of rainfall and water availability, resulting in impacts on rivers, groundwater, ecosystems, agriculture and land management.
NFU Cymru President Abi Reader said: "The announcement that areas of Wales have entered drought status will be of no surprise to Welsh farmers given that our sector is feeling the effects of the sustained hot, dry weather as much, if not more, than any other industry. The lack of rainfall is now having an impact on crop yields and members across Wales have made us aware of the challenges facing them in the respect of making sure that their animals have sufficient access to food and water.
Raising concerns
"With short-to-medium term weather forecasts offering little respite, it is imperative that Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales work with the industry and operate a sensible, flexible approach to support our farmers, we have met with Welsh Government and NRW at this week's Royal Welsh Show. We have stressed the importance to Rural Payments Wales of the need to act promptly to deal with requests from farmers for derogations from specific requirements of the SFS, and we are pleased to hear reports that this is the case. We have also been in dialogue with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, raising the concerns of our members who have reported issues with their ‘mains’ supply.
Increasing challenges
"With many farmers now having to provide additional feed to their livestock, opening forage stocks that were set aside for this winter, it could mean that these farmers will need to purchase additional feed for the winter at significant cost . These severe weather events are further proof of the importance of the Universal Payment, and in particular the Social Value Payment, within the Sustainable Farming Scheme, which supports farmer resilience and underpins food production in the face of the increasing challenges faced as a result of the weather and global instability."
As the dry weather spell continues, NFU Cymru is collecting information and analysis from members across Wales and all farming sectors.
For practical advice on areas affected by the ongoing dry weather conditions, please visit the NFU website.
Advice and updates can also be accessed on the NRW website.
SFS Derogations
Farmers that have joined the Sustainable Farming Scheme earlier in the year may have date specific obligations to complete that are affected by the continued dry weather and are finding achieving those obligations challenging. This may also be the case for those who are delivering within the Growing for the Environment Scheme.
There is a process to follow to request scheme specific derogations which has been developed by RPW to ensure that a request is submitted to the right team, and who will then be able to provide a prompt response.
The derogation/enquiry form can be found on the RPW Online opening page when you login through your CRN, it is listed in the ‘Start a Form’ section on the lower left-hand side.
Where you may be unable to meet one or more scheme requirement, and an exemption has not already been set out in the guidance, a derogation can be requested, you will need to provide:
- Details of the requirement you cannot meet
- Reason for derogation request
- Location of the derogation
- Supporting evidence, where applicable
Guidance around derogation request can be found here
NFU Cymru encourages members to contact RPW with a derogation request as soon as you become aware of the likelihood that you will not be able to achieve a particular action ahead of the deadline, to ensure that you will receive clarity on whether the derogation will be granted in a timely manner.
