Boris ignites row over farm fund allocations Farm leaders fear Wales will lose out to Scotland
WORRIED Welsh farmers fear a precedent has been set after Scotland’s farmers received the lion’s share of extra EU funding allocated to the UK for the next two years.
Wales will also get a small uplift but the country’s farmers fear the latest settlement will only heighten the funding disparity between Welsh and Scottish producers in future regimes.
The FUW said the awarding of an extra £51.4m for Scotland in CAP “convergence” funding was not an encouraging sign.
It means Scottish farmers will collect 63.7% of the convergence pot compared with 13.7% in Wales, 13.9% in England and 8.7% in Northern Ireland.
“Funding allocations like this must not be a precedent for future allocations,” said FUW president Glyn Roberts
Convergence funding comes from EU money allocated to the UK between 2014 and 2020 to make payment rates more equal between EU Member States.
Scotland’s share comes on the back of a £160m “back-dated” payment for Scottish farmers announced in the recent Spending Round. It followed concerns over previous convergence settlements.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visiting Aberdeenshire to meet local farmers, said: “For too long, Scottish farmers have been given a poor deal by the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, which is why we are taking this opportunity to change things for the better.”
In its convergence settlement, Welsh agriculture is to receive an extra £5.2m per year until 2022.
Mr Roberts believes the disparity is storing up trouble. “The FUW has long argued that funding needs to be allocated fairly and giving Scotland an extra £160m could cause market distortion on an unprecedented scale. It is extremely unfair on Welsh farmers,” he said.
Using Defra figures, the FUW has calculated that Scotland’s farmers are already enjoying a hefty financial advantage over their UK counterparts. In 2017, according to the union, they received an average Pillar 1 payment of £23,971, more than 30% higher than the UK average of £18,306, and 65% more than the Welsh average of £14,568.
NFU Cymru welcomed the news that, for the time being, the Welsh farming budget has been safeguarded. But union resident John Davies said he was also alarmed at the “significant injection” of cash into Scotland, which could affect the competitiveness of other UK farmers.
The convergence settlement follows a review by Lord Bew.
For farm funding over the next two years, he recommended UK Pillar 1 allocations should be tilted towards Less Favoured Areas (LFA) in the uplands.
The FUW accepts Scotland is 85% LFA – slightly more than Wales’ 80%. But it points out that Scottish farmers receive targeted LFA support from the CAP Pillar 2 budget, unlike their Welsh counterparts.
In his review Lord Bew said after 2022, the UK administrations should “engage collectively” to agree the principles for farm funding allocations.