Welsh furious over cash cuts
THE WELSH Assembly government has agreed to an urgent meeting with leaders of both Welsh farming unions on Friday (Apr 29) to discuss concerns about cuts in payments for agri-environment schemes.
The Countryside Council for Wales, which administers the Tir Gofal and Tir Cymen schemes, will also take part in talks arranged in Cardiff after a deluge of complaints about the planned reductions.
Peredur Hughes, NFU Cymru president, said members were gravely concerned about the “huge payment reductions”.
“We will ask how they can substantiate the need for the proposed reductions and will seek details of how the new rates were actually worked out so we can examine the reasoning in detail,” Mr Hughes promised.
Many producers have contacted FARMERS WEEKLY to claim that their annual cheques for participation in Tir Gofal and Tir Cymen, which average £10,000 a farm, are likely to be between 30% and 40% smaller as a result of the cuts.
But all refused to be named in print because they feared it might affect their dealings with Welsh Assembly civil servants.
“Perhaps I am being paranoid, but I am not prepared to say anything that might influence the date that my single farm payment arrives,” said one mid-Wales beef and sheep producer.
“But I am deeply concerned that the money I receive from the Tir Gofal scheme will fall by an estimated 38% and I am very sceptical about reassurances that the cut will be offset in my SFP.”
The planned reduction in payments follows an EU ruling that some agri-environment scheme cash linked to reduced stocking rates duplicates environmental incentives built into SFPs.
Carwyn Jones, the Welsh Assembly’s rural affairs minister, has responded that farmers cannot be paid twice for the same thing.
“I would hope that farmers will be able to make up in their SFP what they lose under Tir Gofal,” Mr Jones said.
The Welsh payment cuts, which have yet to be ratified by Brussels, would mean that the annual grant on semi-improved and improved grassland would fall from £80/ha (£32/acre) to £55/ha (£22/acre).
The payment on upland and high mountain heath would fall by £10 to £40/ha (£16/acre), and that for unimproved neutral grassland from £90 to £60/ha (£24/acre).
Farmers with Tir Gofal contracts who contacted FARMERS WEEKLY claimed that they could get between £700 and £4000 less as a result of the move.