FUW member John Wrench, who hosted the event, said:"Input costs have increased significantly over the last year. The cost of feed, fuel and fertiliser are placing pressure on almost all farm businesses and with milk prices beginning to drop recently, it's a worrying time."

Another key concern for members was the Water Resource (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations, in particular the closed period regulation.

From August 2024, the spreading of slurry will be prohibited during set closed periods. Mr Sergeant heard how despite the weather conditions, farmers will be prohibited to spread during this period, and then likely, due to storage constraints, forced to spread as soon as that period finishes.

Members explained that the regulations would be far better fit-for-purpose if they allowed farmers to use common sense depending on external factors, such as rainfall.

The FUW has called for the regulations set to be introduced from August 2024 to be delayed, in order to allow the Welsh Government to consider potential alternative technological solutions to certain regulations.

Concerns around the Agriculture (Wales) Bill and the Sustainable Farming Scheme were also raised and FUW Flintshire County Chairman, Melvyn Vaughan explaining:

"It's vitally important that the Bill provides economic security for family farms in Wales. Without economic sustainability, farmers across Wales will be unable to achieve the environmental, social and cultural objectives of Sustainable Land Management. 

"For instance, efforts to achieve biodiversity and climate change targets cannot be divorced from the economic and social needs or influences that farming families and food businesses experience."