Ensuring a fair share of funding for farms
Afarming union has launched a campaign to make sure that Welsh farmers do not suffer from a loss of funding as a result of changes in the way agricultural support is calculated after Brexit.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales’ (FUW) Fair Farm Funding campaign, launched at its Grand Council meeting in Aberystwyth, comes as politicians in London and Cardiff argue over who should have responsibility for agricultural support after Britain leaves the European Union.
The campaign is aimed at highlighting what the FUW calls the “urgent need” for the UK Government to clarify funding for the sector in Wales. It also aims to secure “fair funding” for Welsh farmers after Brexit, ensuring the industry does not receive less than it did before the UK left the EU.
The FUW insists that funding for farming should not be subject to the Barnett Formula, which dictates the level of central government money supplied to Wales by Westminster.
Launching the campaign at the FUW’s Grand Council, managing director Alan Davies said: “Historically, the funding to support farming in Wales has come from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but once the UK leaves the EU in March next year that link will be broken.
“Any funding to support agriculture will have to come from the UK Treasury. We’ve already heard that the Government will commit the same amount of funding to agriculture for the rest of this Parliament. But there are complexities around how that funding might be allocated.
“If the UK Treasury matches, as is expected, the current EU payments of £3.5bn to Defra to support UK agriculture, there are at least two ways in which that money can be allocated to Wales. One method, and the one most often used in UK Government financial calculations, is to use the Barnett Formula.”
Mr Davies explained that when new money is allocated to a government department, generally the Barnett consequential for Wales is around 5.6% of the total money allocated. That means that if Defra receives £3.5bn, the consequential for Wales will be around £196m.
“Wales has historically received around 9.4% of the total EU CAP budget allocation to the UK. That would equate to £329m. Barnett would reduce our funding by around 40% and that must not happen.
“In order to deliver Fair Farm Funding for Wales, it is therefore essential that the UK Government allocate funds outside the Barnett Formula.
“Wales urgently needs certainty that we will receive at least our historical share of the UK’s agricultural and rural development budget promised by Secretary of State Michael Gove, especially as the budget for next year needs to be in place by October this year,” he added.
Quoting First Minister Carwyn Jones, Mr Davies told delegates: “To achieve this will require a new way of working and the FUW was pleased to hear Welsh Government recognise that ‘agricultural funding will have to be held in a separate pot and dealt with in a different way’.”
The UK Government has named 24 devolved policy areas where it wishes to retain power temporarily in the wake of Britain’s exit from the bloc. These include areas such as agriculture, fisheries, food labelling and public procurement.
The Scottish and Welsh governments have accused the UK Government of a “power grab” and introduced their own legislation.
Plaid Cymru Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary Simon Thoma said Wales faced a “land grab” from Westminster and urged the Welsh Government not to “give an inch” in negotiations over agricultural support, pesticides, fisheries and animal welfare.
Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths has previously said: “Welsh land is best managed by those who know it…
“We need to ensure our agricultural sector can be prosperous and resilient in a post-Brexit future, whatever that may be.”