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National News
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| 16.07.08 - Agriculture in Wales |
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| Written by Brynle Williams AM |
| Wednesday, 16 July 2008 00:00 |
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Welsh farmers are being suffocated in bureaucracy and form filling. When so much of Wales’ laws and policy is decided not in this Assembly, or in Westminster, but in Brussels, it’s regrettable that the Labour Government, and Labour-led Assemblies have done little other than gold-plate the reams of regulations generated there. Instead of being proactive, and negotiating the best deal at the earliest stages of legislation. More often than not Wales has had the regulations in full, and farmers have been left to make the best they can out of the Government’s incompetence. This is why we have a ban on burying fallen stock on-farm, it’s why the productivity is being undermined through the Nitrates Directive, and worst of all – farmers who have been transporting animals for the last 20 to 30 years are forced to take a test to prove they’re competent. It’s also why Electronic ID for sheep is going ahead, despite the fact that it will bring no practical benefit. There’s already full traceability in the current system, and the cost of setting it up, not to mention the annual maintenance, would wipe out 40 percent of sheep farmers’ income. After all the hardship of foot and mouth disease, this could be the last straw for many sheep farmers, and the national flock is already declining year on year. If the best this Coalition Government can do with its Labour partners in London, is delay the start date by a few months, then these feeble efforts are a sad reflection on how little Labour cares for the countryside. And after all, the more problems Labour causes for Welsh agriculture, the worse it reflects on a Plaid Minister. As we pointed out in our recent debate on food security, the Assembly Government needs to have a frank and honest look at whether, in this new era of a rising global demand for food, it has the right balance between the two public goods of food production and the environment. No-one here would want to see any backtracking on the work of habitat improvement that has taken place in the years when food production was unprofitable, but the Minister must recognise the rapidly changing global market – as well as Wales’ moral obligation to produce as much food as possible, and minimise the amount of food taken away in imports from developing countries – and so far, the Minister has yet to fully reflect this in her policies – her farming strategy hints at it, but I don’t believe it goes nearly far enough. And the final point I’m going to raise is the lack of support the Labour Assembly Governments have shown for the Royal Welsh show in the last ten years. The Show is the defining event in the rural calendar, and one which generates some forty million pounds to the economy of mid Wales, and this is money that’s recycled within the local community. It also attracts some five thousand overseas visitors every year – establishing trade links, not just for Welsh agriculture, but for supporting businesses as well. I’m aware that the Minister is currently in negotiations with the Board, but when millions have been showered on the Botanic Gardens and the Millennium Centre, it seems unusual, to say the least, that the Royal Welsh receives just some twenty thousand pounds in direct sponsorship. One way that this Government could give practical help, would be by announcing a commencement date for the Builth bypass – this would benefit the town of Builth Wells, as well as the Show itself. I appreciate that the Royal Welsh may be a victim of its own success, and that the charity has never had to go cap in hand for assistance, but after taking a loss last year of over some three hundred thousand pounds due to the bad weather, the Show needs to know that its contribution to rural Wales is fully recognised and appreciated by this Assembly Government, and I await the Minister’s announcement on this with interest. |