In the last of a series of video messages aimed at parties and candidates contesting this Thursday’s Senedd Elections, NFU Cymru has stressed the need for a balanced approach to land use change that considers the long term economic, environmental, social and cultural impact of the policy choices made in Cardiff Bay.
At the core of the union’s asks of aspiring politicians is the need to ensure that land use change does not come at the expense of food production, nor should it lead to the fragmentation and destruction of rural communities.
Raw ingredients
The skills and expertise built up over generations on family farms in rural communities deliver the raw ingredients which support the Welsh food and drink industry, a sector turning over £10.2 billion annually and employing around 223,500 people – 17% of Wales’ workforce.
Wales’ rural areas are strongholds of Welsh language and culture, with 43% of those involved in agriculture speaking Welsh, compared to 19% of the wider Welsh population. Any policy changes which have an adverse impact on rural areas will also, by extension, impact negatively on our Welsh identity.
Significant benefits
As well as delivering significant economic benefits and protecting Wales’ cultural heritage, the country’s network of family farms also plays a key role in national food security, the importance of which has been further accentuated at a time when supply chains have been significantly disrupted by increasing global volatility.
Bringing to life this key ask from the union’s Growing Together Senedd Elections manifesto was NFU Cymru Next Generation Development Group member Rhodri Wyn Jones, who farms with his family near Dolgellau.
Integral role
In this latest pre-election video case study, Rhodri highlights how integral farming families are to their local communities and Welsh language and culture. He impresses upon politicians the need to ensure that the policy decisions they make allow agricultural land to remain in agricultural production.
He said: “We understand that there is demand for this land by businesses and other people, but it is important to note that this land is a lot more than our farms and that the people put a lot into the community, the Welsh language and our culture locally.
Farmers are more than the land that they farm and I would like to have the same opportunity that my forefathers have already had.”
