Farming

Pressing questions on farm funding’s future

Published

9 years ago

August 16, 2016

FOLLOWING a debate in the House of Commons, the attitude of Welsh politicians in the UK Parliament was thrown into sharp focus by comments made by both Conservative minister Guto Bebb and Wrexham’s Labour MP Ian Lucas.

It was Mr Lucas’ remarks which attracted the most notable reaction by Welsh politicians in the first instance.

He asked Mr Bebb: “Does the Minister agree that leaving the European Union offers a golden opportunity to assess the level of subsidy paid to farming in Wales to see whether that money can be more effectively and efficiently spent in other areas?”

The inference to be drawn from the question was crystal clear and was pounced upon by Plaid Cymru.

CALL FOR COMMITMENT ON AGRICULTURE

Carmarthenshire’s Jonathan Edwards MP, who was sitting in front of Ian Lucas MP in the Commons, called for Labour to urgently clarify whether it will cut financial support for Welsh farmers.

Plaid Cymru Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Simon Thomas, said: “Ahead of the Referendum, the people of Wales were promised that no funding would be lost by leaving the European Union. Since then, Plaid Cymru has made it our duty to fight to protect the funding that Wales receives, but Labour seems to view it as a chance for a smash and grab on Wales’ funding.

“We know that 80% of Welsh farms are dependent on European funding to support their businesses, but Labour has shown complete disregard for the interests of the people of Wales and its agriculture sector.

“Labour really has let the mask slip. Whilst Plaid Cymru is focusing on protecting the interests of Welsh communities, Labour is plotting to cut their funding.”

Mr Edwards said: “Labour’s blatant and worrying attack on Welsh agriculture is yet another sign that the Labour party simply does not understand the Welsh agriculture sector or the challenges faced by our rural communities.

“The Welsh family farm is not only a core component of the Welsh agricultural sector and the Welsh economy, but is the main channel through which we as a nation can achieve food and environmental security.

“This expression of contempt for our agricultural sector is utterly unjustified. Welsh farmers face tremendous financial challenges in selling their produce and Labour should be focusing their efforts on facilitating Welsh agricultural exports, rather than marking them as a target for austerity and cuts.

“The Labour MP’s constituency partner, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, urgently needs to answer whether her constituency’s partner’s question reflects official Labour Party policy.”

FARMERS ARE ‘WEALTHY LANDOWNERS’

The Labour MP was unrepentant about his remarks and has gone on to further criticise the Welsh farming community, stated that Welsh farmers are ‘wealthy landowners’.

The Herald invited the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs to respond to her Westminster colleague’s remarks.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government told us: “The First Minister made it clear to the Prime Minister earlier this week he is seeking assurances that Welsh farmers do not lose out financially as a result of Brexit. This means every penny currently received from the EU being replaced by the UK Government. The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs also reiterated this to the UK Government’s Farming Minister.

“As we prepare to withdraw from the European Union, we must use the opportunity over the coming years to assess the specific needs of the farming industry in Wales and identify how we can forge distinctly Welsh policies that will enable Welsh farming to prosper in a post-Brexit world.”

‘NOT A PENNY LESS’

Welsh Liberal Democrat William Powell told The Herald: “In the economic conditions that we now face as a country, pressure on the public purse will be all the more acute. The Welsh Liberal Democrats are supporting the ‘Not a Penny Less’ campaign in terms of farm support, and this has proved popular on our stand at this year’s Royal Welsh Show.

“However, it is more important than ever for farmers to engage in the public debate, so that there is a better understanding of the vital contribution that they make as custodians of the land, in terms both of maintaining biodiversity, but also to the whole tourist sector, which we know is such a critical part of the wider rural economy.

“However, more important than anything for Welsh farming is securing long -term access to the European Single Market for our quality farm exports – and making that an essential element in the permanent post Referendum settlement. And with Andrea Leadsom MP’s comments about hill farmers ‘looking after the butterflies ’, betraying an evident lack of understanding and empathy for Welsh farming, it is vital that Wales retains a robust and distinct farming policy. Welsh Liberal Democrats will be fighting for this in the time to come.”

LABOUR INSULTS RURAL COMMUNITIES

Andrew RT Davies was trenchant in his criticism both of Mr Lucas and Lesley Griffiths: “These comments once again highlight Labour’s attitude towards rural communities, and it is remarkable that their MPs are actively lobbying to give less money to farmers.

“It follows comments from Leslie Griffiths, the Cabinet Secretary who insulted Welsh farmers by suggesting that they don’t make good business owners. Now they want to take their money away.

“During the campaign, senior UK government ministers gave guarantees that Welsh farmers would not be worse off after the UK leaves the EU, and I will continue to work with those colleagues to ensure that those promises are delivered.”

THE LESS CERTAIN MR BEBB

However, an examination of Guto Bebb’s responses to Commons questions on Wales’ farming sector reveals a less certain picture.

The Undersecretary of State was questioned repeatedly on the impact of Brexit on the funding provided to Welsh farmers.

In response to Ian Lucas’s question, rather than giving a ringing ‘no’ and committing the UK Government to maintaining funding levels, Mr Bebb said (emphases added): “We need to look at the way in which Government spend money. IF there is to be a funding mechanism in the future for Welsh agriculture, it MUST BE LOOKED at in the totality of Government spending.”

That is some way short of promises made by senior UK Government ministers that Wales’ farmers would not be worse off.

And to further underline how conditional UK Government’s support is, responding to a question from Liz Saville-Roberts, Plaid’s MP for Dwyfor Meiryonnydd, the limited reassurance given was an ‘assurance to the farming unions that the current funding situation is in place until 2018’.

That echoed a previous response to Mark Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Ceredigion, in which the conditionality of UK Government support for Welsh agriculture was again underlined: “… The ongoing support for Welsh farming will be subject to agreements involving this Government, the way in which we exit the European Union and the decisions taken by the future Prime Minister.”

That is, again, a long way short of Andrew RT Davies’s reference to a promise that Welsh farmers would not be worse off.

The reluctance to commit to a definitive answer is striking, bearing in mind that in the same questions to the Welsh Office, Mr Bebb stated that: “The farming sector is the economic backbone of the Welsh rural economy. The total income from farming in Wales is estimated at more than £175 million, but more important is the contribution that Welsh agriculture makes to our rural communities.”

He also remarked that: “More than 60,000 jobs in Wales are dependent on the agriculture sector, and it would be short-sighted in the extreme for any Government to turn their back on a sector that puts Wales on the international map.”

‘FARMING IS WALES’ BEDROCK’

Speaking at the Royal Welsh Show last week, Glyn Roberts, President of the FUW, made a series of emphatic observations on the importance of Wales’s agricultural sector: “There are almost as many people engaged in the milk industry in Pembrokeshire as there are people making a living in our Welsh steel industry. Yet there is a clear imbalance in political focus for supporting these two very important industries – an imbalance which also extends to all our agricultural sectors.”

He added that his aspiration and, indeed, the intention of the Farmers’ Union of Wales is to change this.

“We want to see the value and importance of the rural economy truly recognised, and to build a visible and valued Rural Powerhouse – not something that attracts industrial focus in a small geographic area, like the north-east Wales ‘powerhouse’ built around foreign manufacturing; what is needed is recognition of the fact that 80% of our land mass is rural; that more than a third of Wales’ population live in rural areas; and that farming is the bedrock of our rural communities, without which vast direct and indirect contributions to Wales’ economy as a whole would disappear.”

Farming

Farmers Union of Wales Warns: Labour’s 5G Expansion Risks Rural Blackspots

Published

18 hours ago

December 3, 2025

Tom Sinclair

FUW Joins Landowners in Urgent Call to Pause Controversial Telecoms Reforms

THE FUW (Farmers’ Union of Wales) has warned that rural communities face worsening mobile blackspots and farmers risk losing essential income if the Labour Government expands a telecoms policy blamed for stalling Britain’s 5G rollout.

In a letter to Digital Economy Minister Liz Lloyd, the FUW aligns with landowners, investors, and property experts demanding a halt to Part 2 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) Act 2022. Extending the 2017 Electronic Communications Code (ECC) would “entrench failure,” the group argues, sparking more stalled renewals, site losses, and legal battles just as Wales needs swifter rural connectivity.

The 2017 reforms empowered operators to cut mast rents—often by 90%—from hosts like farmers, councils, and NHS trusts. Far from boosting rollout, they’ve ignited over 1,000 tribunal cases since 2017, versus 33 in the prior three decades. Rural goodwill has eroded, with hosts now eyeing exits.

“Every lost mast isolates households, schools, and businesses,” the FUW states. “No public subsidy can fix this systemic damage.”

A survey of 559 hosts (via NFU, CLA, BPF) shows:

35% considering full withdrawal.
70% of expired lease holders facing operator legal threats.

Landowner Ted Hobbs in New Tredegar shares the pain: “My 1995 Vodafone lease was £3,500 yearly, renewed in 2010 at the same rate. It expired May 2025—now they demand a slash, backed by the Code. This is confiscation, not partnership.”

Labour’s push forward—despite earlier opposition and a critical consultation—ignores these red flags.

FUW President Ian Rickman adds: “Farmers hosted masts in good faith for rural connectivity. Punishing them with rent cuts sabotages Wales. Halt this now, restore trust, and incentivise real progress.”

The coalition urges ministers to reopen dialogue before deepening rural divides. Wales can’t afford more policy missteps.

Business

Large new development at one of Pembrokeshire’s biggest dairy farms approved

Published

24 hours ago

December 3, 2025

Bruce Sinclair - Local Democracy Reporter

PLANS for a heifer accommodation building and associated works at one of Pembrokeshire’s largest dairy farms, with a milking herd of 2,000 cows, have been given the go-ahead.

In an application recommended for approval at the December 2 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Hugh James of Langdon Mill Farms Ltd sought permission for a 160-metre-long heifer accommodation building, a slurry separation/dewatering building and associated yard areas at 1,215-hectare Langdon Mill Farm, near Jeffreyston, Kilgetty.

A supporting statement through agent Reading Agricultural Consultants said: “The holding currently has a milking herd of approximately 2,000 cows, which are housed indoors for the majority of the year, with dry cows and heifers grazed outdoors when weather and soil conditions permit.

“There has been significant investment in buildings and infrastructure at the farm over the last decade in respect of cattle accommodation, slurry storage, milking facilities, Anaerobic Digestion (AD) plant, feed storage. Recently a calf and weaned calf accommodation buildings were approved by Pembrokeshire County Council with construction almost complete.

“The unit is efficient, achieving yields of more than 10,000 litres/cow/year, with cows being milked three times/day in the 60-point rotary parlour. Langdon Mill Farm currently directly employs 21 full-time, and three part-time staff. Of these, four live on site in the two dwellings opposite the farm, with the remaining staff living in the locality.”

It added: “Although the unit has previously purchased heifers to aid expansion, the farm now breeds most of its own replacements to improve genetics and to minimise the ongoing threat of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

“Following the completion of the calf and weaned calf accommodation buildings, the farm will be rearing all of the cattle under seven months at Langdon Mill Farm, before being transported off site to be reared at three farms in the local area. At 22-months the in-calf heifers are brought back to the maternity building to calve and then are introduced into the milking herd.”

It said the proposed building would be used by heifers between the ages of 7-22 months, the siting “directly influenced by the adjacent calf and weaned calf buildings, with livestock being moved from one building to the next as they get older”.

Approval was moved by Cllr Brian Hall, seconded by Cllr Danny Young, with Cllr John T Davies also stating his support.

“It’s common sense; the fact we approved a calf-rearing shed, it follows on you need a heifer rearing shed,” he said.

Cllr Davies later said the scheme would also support biodiversity, and, with a decline in milk prices, supporting the large-scale farm was about “safety in numbers”.

Chair Cllr Mark Carter said it was “a pleasure to be supporting the farming industry”.

Members unanimously supported the recommendation of approval.

Business

Avian flu concerns rise as fresh housing rules hit West Wales farms

Published

4 days ago

November 30, 2025

Tom Sinclair

Producers warned to tighten biosecurity as winter migration increases risk

POULTRY farmers across West Wales are tightening biosecurity and preparing for months of disruption as the latest wave of avian influenza brings new housing requirements and restrictions across the country.

An all-Wales Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) remains in force, with keepers required to follow strict disease-control measures. Mandatory housing orders are now active, meaning all poultry and captive birds must be kept indoors or under cover to reduce contact with wild birds during the peak winter migration period.

The Welsh Government said the risk of spread from wild bird populations has risen sharply in recent weeks, with cases confirmed across the UK and further outbreaks expected as colder weather pushes migratory birds into estuaries and coastal wetlands.

Local concerns in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire

While no major outbreaks have been reported in West Wales so far this season, farmers say the constant tightening of rules has become part of their winter routine.

Producers in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire told The Herald that rising feed costs, indoor-housing requirements and continued uncertainty around “free-range” status are putting pressure on small and medium-sized units.

One local keeper said: “When birds go inside for long periods, everything becomes more expensive — bedding, lighting, feed, labour. You also worry about the stress on the flock. It all adds up.”

Although the public health risk remains low, farmers say the economic risk to the rural sector is significant, particularly if repeated outbreaks trigger long-term culls or movement restrictions.

Background: The Capestone outbreak

West Wales has already seen how severe the consequences can be.

In September 2022, Capestone Organic Poultry Ltd, near Milford Haven, lost 130,000 organic chickens after a small outbreak of bird flu was detected in one shed. The entire flock was culled, affecting one of Pembrokeshire’s largest agricultural employers.

At the time, the business urged the Welsh Government to introduce a mandatory housing order to match measures already in place in England. Wales initially resisted housing rules, instead relying on an AIPZ and saying the scientific evidence did not yet justify compulsory containment.

The episode highlighted a long-running debate within the industry: whether early housing orders are essential to prevent spread, or whether they impose unnecessary financial strain, especially on free-range units that could lose their premium status once birds are indoors for extended periods.

That same debate has returned this winter, with ministers under pressure to balance scientific advice with the practical realities on farms.

Biosecurity rules tightened

Under current measures, all bird keepers — from major commercial producers to backyard owners — must now:

house or net birds to avoid contact with wild birds
clean and disinfect housing, yards, vehicles and equipment regularly
restrict visitors and maintain movement records
report any signs of unexplained illness, sudden deaths or drops in egg production to APHA

Failure to follow the rules can result in enforcement action, including prosecution.

The Welsh Government said the AIPZ and housing order will remain in place “until further notice”, with the situation assessed on a daily basis.

‘A difficult few months ahead’

Farmers say that, as in previous years, the biggest challenge will be uncertainty. If Wales avoids major outbreaks, restrictions may lift early. But with the UK reporting rising case numbers and Europe warning of sustained seasonal pressure, most producers are preparing for a long winter.

NFU Cymru has again urged the Welsh Government to ensure clear communication and rapid support for producers affected by culls or extended housing, warning that some family-run businesses are operating “on a knife-edge”.

For now, farmers in West Wales say they can only focus on biosecurity and hope that this year’s strain does not bring the kind of losses seen elsewhere in the UK.