The union continues to feed in members' concerns to politicians of all parties, with Sam Kurtz MS pressing the Minister on the Habitat Wales Scheme during questions to the Minister at Plenary with other MSs including Llyr Grufydd, Jane Dodds, Peter Fox, Russell George and Rhun ap Iorwerth also voicing concerns
NFU Cymru President, Aled Jones, wrote a further letter to the Minister. In this letter he highlighted to the Minister the need to support the organic sector. He also reiterated our call for a safety net mechanism to be introduced and asked the Minister to meet with our Rural Affairs Chair, Hedd Pugh, and affected members at her earliest convenience.
During his opening address at the NFU Cymru Conference, President, Aled Jones, highlighted the cliff-edge in funding farmers in Glastir are facing. He asked the Minister, who was in attendance, to introduce a safety net.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones writes to the Rural Affairs Minister to reiterate the lack of confidence Welsh farmers have in the scheme, concerns over the ability of Welsh Government to address the data issues and issue contracts in time for the 1st January start date. The President asks for Welsh Government to introduce a safety net mechanism to limit the losses for those Glastir agreement holders hardest hit by the ending of the scheme.
NFU Cymru provides a further updated briefing to opposition spokespeople to equip them with the current issues around the new scheme.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones features on BBC Radio Wales Country Focus and BBC Radio Cymru’s Dros Frecwast as member feedback continues to flood in with faults over the scheme. NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman Hedd Pugh and NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor member Gwyn Prothero lead an ITV Wales News item which centres on farmers’ frustrations over the Habitat Wales Scheme and notes NFU Cymru’s continued lobbying.
As a result of concerns raised by NFU Cymru members and staff, Jane Dodds questions the Rural Affairs Minister at Plenary on the subject of the incoming Habitat Wales Scheme.
NFU Cymru staff and officeholders meet with both Sam Kurtz MS and Llyr Gruffydd MS to discuss funding for agriculture and the Habitat Wales Scheme.
Following the launch of the scheme, NFU Cymru President Aled Jones and the union’s staff raise concerns to both the Minister and her officials over habitat data issues relating to the scheme and relay examples of the huge income losses current Glastir holders face from the ending of the scheme and the introduction of the Habitat Scheme. The President asks the Minister to pause the EOI process to address these issues.
NFU Cymru voices further disappointment that concerns over the Habitat Wales Scheme raised by the union in a letter to the Minister during the summer have now been realised.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones uses his keynote speech at the NFU Cymru / Wynnstay Sustainable Farming Conference to highlight that NFU Cymru is anxious for Glastir contract holders who stand to lose a significant part of their income in 2024. The President calls for the budget of £35m for agri-environment support in Wales to at least be maintained.
NFU Cymru works with the Ffermio team at Telesgop on an item exploring the benefits of the current Glastir scheme both to the environment and the wider rural community. NFU Cymru Carmarthenshire member Garry Williams is interviewed by Ffermio presenter Alun Elidyr, where he showcases some of the hedgerow and streamside corridor work he’s carried out in the Glastir scheme and states the importance of the Glastir support to his farm business. Later in the month, NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Chairman Hedd Pugh features again on BBC Radio Cymru’s Bwletin Amaeth programme to bemoan the lack of clarity regards the new scheme.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones met with the Rural Affairs Minister and highlighted the real concern the union had for the potential income losses facing farmers with the ending of Glastir and the introduction of the Habitat Wales Scheme.
NFU Cymru calls for further clarity on the budget for the interim scheme.
NFU Cymru provides opposition spokespeople with a briefing on the RDP, which details the union’s concerns about the Habitat Wales Scheme
Llyr Gruffydd MS, Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Rural Affairs Spokesman, asks about staffing capacity to develop the new scheme for 2024.
NFU Cymru Organics Representative Haydn Evans speaks to BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme to discuss the potential cliff-edge drop in funding for organic farmers in Wales.
NFU Cymru’s lobbying to continue to raise political awareness of potential issues surrounding the proposed interim habitat scheme is a major point of discussions with visiting MSs and MPs at county and local show across the length and breadth of Wales.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones, Deputy President Abi Reader and Rural Affairs Chairmain Hedd Pugh met the Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths, her officials and politicians from all parties to express concern over the Habitat Wales Scheme announcement made the previous week.
NFU Cymru response says that the announcement has done little to allay the fears of thousands of farming businesses facing a ‘cliff-edge’ in funding. NFU Cymru President Aled Jones reiterates this position in interviews to BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones and Deputy President Abi Reader met the Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths and requested that she urgently commit to extend Glastir for 2024.
Plaid Cymru MS Mabon ap Gwynfor takes forward concerns about the Glastir cliff-edge with the Minister following discussions with NFU Cymru.
ITV Wales broadcasts an item featuring NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman Hedd Pugh and long-time Glastir contract holder Gary Yeomans, from Monmouthshire. The duo highlight the importance of the scheme to Welsh farmers and voice fears over what the future may hold.
As a result of concerns raised by NFU Cymru, Sam Kurtz MS presses the Minister Lesley Griffiths on the Glastir cliff-edge when she appears before the Senedd’s Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones and Deputy President Abi Reader met the Minister for Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths and asked for the extension of Glastir contracts for 2024, asking her to provide certainty and clarity to agri-environment agreement holders.
Following a meeting with NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor members, James Evans MS tackles the Minister on the Glastir cliff-edge.
NFU Cymru works with BBC Wales journalist on items focussing on farmers’ decades-long commitment to agri-environment schemes and an uncertain future for this important funding stream. NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman Hedd Pugh and NFU Cymru Meirionnydd County Chairman Rhodri Jones feature in item broadcast on BBC Wales Today and S4C’s Newyddion. The piece is also featured on BBC Wales News online and BBC Cymru Fyw.
The Minister is quizzed on the Glastir cliff-edge by Sam Kurtz MS at Plenary as a result of concerns raised by NFU Cymru.
NFU Cymru works alongside Farmers Weekly to shine a light on the number of farmers affected by ambiguity over the ending of the Glastir scheme. A union spokesman tells the Farmers Weekly Welsh Government must ‘walk the walk’ and mirror commitments made by Defra to commit to funding agri-environment schemes throughout the transition.
Union voices concerns over the ending of the Glastir scheme and ambiguity over its future.
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones uses his annual New Year message to urge the Rural Affairs Minister to make an early announcement on the transitional plans for 2024.
‘There needs to be a stable and well planned transition from the current CAP legacy schemes’
‘NFU Cymru welcomes the measures Welsh Government has put in place to provide stability and certainty to the farming industry until the end of 2023 through the continuation of the BPS and Glastir. This must be maintained at, at least, current payment levels’.
‘The importance of a stable and well-planned transition from the current CAP to a new policy developed, designed and implemented in Wales cannot be overstated’.
‘There should be no ‘cliff edge’ of environmental delivery across Welsh farms and all Glastir contract holders must have the option to extend beyond December 2021 until new schemes are fully operational’.
‘We are also concerned by the lack of windows for certain schemes without sufficient explanation. The decision not to open a window for Glastir Entry, for example, has led to significant uncertainty for some farming businesses whose five-year contracts have come to an end. This decision was poorly communicated to the industry and hindered forward business planning. Given that participation in entry level agri-environment was portrayed as a replacement to the Tir Mynydd Scheme, the decision to de-emphasise it represents an unacceptable ‘u-turn’ in policy and also undermines the best available evidence which suggests that the delivery of environmental objectives requires sustained effort over the longer term’.
‘Our vision for a future domestic agricultural policy sets out the importance of a stable and well planned transition from the current CAP to a new policy developed, designed and implemented in Wales’.
‘NFU Cymru does not support the phasing out of the current CAP architecture: Basic Payment Scheme and Rural Development measures until there is clear evidence that replacement scheme(s) can deliver at least the same level of stability for farming businesses, the food supply chain and rural communities that is currently delivered. Achieving this can only be achieved through comprehensive impact assessments, modelling and piloting of proposed new schemes’.