NFU Cymru Crops & Horticulture Board’s response to the Contractual Relationships in the Combinable Crops Sector consultation response focussed on three key areas: grain sale contracts; the sampling process; and the timeliness and accuracy of data sent back to producers.
The union has also underlined the need for the review to give confidence back to arable farmers.
The UK-wide consultation launched last December by Defra in collaboration with Welsh Government, Scottish Government and DAERA, sought views on clarity of standards, sampling and testing procedures, supply volumes, data sharing and dispute resolution, to inform proposals for clearer contracts and fairer treatment for producers.
Bring back fairness
“We need confidence brought back into the system and a sense of fairness that we are getting what our grain is worth on the day it is leaves the farm.”
Tom Rees, NFU Cymru Crops & Horticulture Board Chair
NFU Cymru’s Crops & Horticulture Board Chair Tom Rees, an arable farmer from Pembrokeshire, said: “For far too long cereals producers have been price takers and this must change.
This is an opportunity for that to happen and bring back fairness to primary producers in our nation’s food chain and - frankly - keep us in business in these volatile high input cost times.
“Government keeps telling us get more from the market. If we get the changes that are needed, with their help, through legislation, if necessary, this is an opportunity to do just that.
“We need confidence brought back into the system and a sense of fairness that we are getting what our grain is worth on the day it is leaves the farm. There is hope now we can achieve that when our suggested changes are implemented and that time will come soon.”
Key asks
The NFU Cymru Crops & Horticulture Board’s key asks are:
- The AIC No.1 Contract, upon which almost all grain sales from farm are traded, to be adapted to reflect a fairer balance of power and include greater clarity over specific contract terms and definitions. Any variation must be in writing and agreed by both parties
- A change in the sampling process to enable farmers to have more involvement. For the vast majority of farmers who load grain on lorries arranged by the purchaser, we need the ability to take a representative sample either before or at the point of loading, and for this sample to be used for either the basis of payment or, at the very least, the sample for an independent test in the case of a dispute. We also need assurance that moisture meters used at grain merchants are regularly calibrated
- Immediate feedback of data at intake to be a requirement of all contracts, so that there is transparency in the data coming directly from the intake and so that the farmer can act if there is a specification issue which can be remedied before loading more lorries and incurring further costs.
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