Farmers from Denbigh and Flintshire have raised concerns regarding the Agricultural Water Pollution regulations, the Sustainable Farming Scheme and wider farming matters with North Wales Member of the Senedd Llyr Gruffydd MS.

Members and union officials took the opportunity to reiterate that the latest announcement on the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations, which sets out intentions to delay the implementation of the annual whole farm nitrogen limit of 170kg per hectare and consult on a licensing scheme to increase that limit, is a welcome opportunity to influence change.

FUW Denbighshire county vice chairman Gwion Owen said:

“The proposed licensing regime would serve as a significant safety net for a number of farmers in Wales in the short term who are already above the 170kg limit.

“This is especially important where reducing stock numbers or buying or renting additional land are not viable options, and compliance with the 170kg limit will breach contracts or tenancy agreements, or compromise the ability to repay loans.

“However, this is just one regulation out of forty-six set out in this piece of legislation and therefore we must consider the long term implications of these regulations as a whole for our members.”

Addressing the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals, Mr Gruffydd heard that the FUW welcomed the commitment to a baseline payment for all farmers, providing much needed stability for food producing family farms.

FUW Flint Chairman, Melvyn Vaughan said:

“The FUW believes the majority of the budget should be used to provide this stability payment in return for the new Universal Actions required of farmers on top of the ‘National Minimum Standards’.

“There are also still concerns about the impact of budget cuts from Westminster and the size of the budget after 2023, particularly as the proposals are ambitious, covering a wide range of objectives at a time when farmers are experiencing a significant increase in costs.”

Union officials added that the proposal to use RPW Online as the main tool for farmers themselves to undertake a simplified Sustainability Review is welcome, as it recognises the value of existing data collection by farmers, the capability of the current system, and the expense of using advisors to conduct the review on farm as was previously proposed.