Welsh hill farmers feeling 'abandoned'

[bracken basher]

Anyone from North/Mid Wales going to this meeting tonight in Dinas Mawddwy?
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/tir-mynydd-hill-support-scheme-3003430

 

[snowhite]

there must be no votes in that part of the country , or the farmers will just vote the same way regardless

 

[Yale]

You have to ask what was the point in supporting hill farms for decades only to pull the rug away now.A betrayal and a waste of peoples lives.

 

[IANTO]

there must be no votes in that part of the country , or the farmers will just vote the same way regardless

There are Votes, but Wales is Split as far as population and voting is concerned on Geographical Lines.

Here is a Map of the last election results.

Labour who currently govern with 30 seats, are as you will see concentrated in the industrial areas of South and North East Wales.

The Agricultural Areas elect, Conservative, Liberal and Plaid Cymru Members.

Labour have no realistic chance of winning seats outside their heartlands, and therefore have no interest in either agriculture or Rural Wales.

 

[RJ1]

Not sure who's going to be left to deliver the oft mentioned "environmetal goods" in the hill areas...

 

[JohnGalway]

"Land abandonment" seems to be the fear in the powers that be over in our hills, mostly from EU and environmental types. Could be something ye lads and ladies look into, might be an angle for ye to use.

 

[snowhite]

"Land abandonment" seems to be the fear in the powers that be over in our hills, mostly from EU and environmental types. Could be something ye lads and ladies look into, might be an angle for ye to use.

i am not into guns but that is some looking weapon on your blog

 

[Sussex Martin]

i am not into guns but that is some looking weapon on your blog

I've heard that John shoots BIG loads too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[john432]

Maybe it's time we gave up strugling to farm in the hills. We wont be missed, look at the state of people in the country,too fat,do they need meat? Life is too short to waste trying to farm against the weather and evrything else chucked at us. Is being from generations of farmers the reason we carry on?

 

[bracken basher]

Going back to the original subject......listening to the Welsh language report about the meeting on Radio Cymru this morning the outcome was that they had a vote of no confidence in Alun Davies (Minister for Natural Resources and Food in the welsh assembly) and called for his resignation.
I think that many would have said that about him before the latest crisis!

 

[RJ1]

He has shown a particular lack of empathy lately. I can see his point that farm businesses need to become more resilient and can see what he is saying that other industries don't have compensation packages in such circumstances. However, there are two linked issues which differentiate agriculture (as well as the question of whether we in fact put a value on the management of our hills) and they are:

(1) it is more dependent upon the weather than any other industry and the recent weather has had a devastating effect on some businesses - no matter how resilient you are, you cannot plan or prepare for the loss of a significant proportion of your flock (substitute flock for any other means of income) overnight.
(2) the ability to produce home grown food and ensure stability in pricing and supply - inherently difficult if you want to "leave everything to the markets". Time will tell if the recent events have an effect on prices later on in the year. Do politicians care? History would suggest that they should.

The cynic in me says that he isn't too bothered if a fair few go out of business. He would rather see "rationalisation" (what a silly word, it's not rational at all in some cases).

Unfortunately, taking this attitude as well as taking away Tir Mynydd and the likelihood of no special treatment under the next CAP reform all spells bad news. But it's not just the farms, it's rural communities as a whole. It's not on their radar and Ianto's map demonstrates that quite clearly. They would rather spend the lot regenerating the Valleys (that's where the votes are) and making everyone commute to Cardiff by a new Valleys metrorail (look it up if you don't believe me).

As for the vote of no confidence, would you vote to keep a minister who pulls all your rugs form under you?

[At the risk of becoming a bit like WalterP, RJ1 thinks to himself: "But he's not a Minister for Agriculture, is he...]

 

[snowhite]

I've heard that John shoots BIG loads too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i will have to take your word for that ,

 

[Yale]

Just looked up Valleys metrorail,looks like our 'Watford gap' is at the heads of the valleys.

 

[RJ1]

I didn't know what to say when I first heard about the idea! It's eggs in one big Cardiff (and the region) shaped basket and forget the rest. I think that the thinking behind it is that Wales will prosper if Cardiff grows in economic terms - no doubt with a load of call centres and 'service sector' jobs thst can easily be re-located once it suits the companies involved.

I think it's sad that so little is being done to assist rual enterprise and halt the steady march of villages becoming retirement communities - transport infrastructure and broadband access being two simple things I can think of. I've also noticed particularly since the crash that it's all about the economy and how the market reacts to virtually everything. Recent figures said Powys contributed least economically per capita GDP (i think that's what it was). The value of community and other measures of a successful community all seem to get brushed aside.

 

[Yale]

RJ1,you've hit the nail on the head,Cardiff is the new London for us but although closer in distance,travelling time it is as distant,4 hours to London,the same to Cardiff.

We look to the North West of England for our economic prosperity.Chester 20 minutes,Liverpool 40 minutes.Cardiff might as well be on the moon (and its ministers).

 

[bracken basher]

A report from today's Daily Post-

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/hill-farmers-demand-resignation-alun-3311318

 

[snowhite]

A report from today's Daily Post-

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/local-news/hill-farmers-demand-resignation-alun-3311318

in this day and age what will half a million do for them , by hankies to dry there eyes with

 

[Devil's advocate]

I don't understand this thread.

In the Autumn of 2010 we lost 20k worth of vegetables to early unexpected frost.

Last summer we lost perhaps 10K worth of vegetables to soaked ground.

Plenty this year have lost 100's thousands pounds worth of crops to flooding.

Sheep farmers who house ewes often get disease outbreaks that are expensive.

Most don't feel sorry for themselves they just get on with trying to earn some money to replace losses. Yorkshire hill farmers with large SFP seem rather upbeat at the moment, is there no SFP in Wales?

 

[bracken basher]

I don't understand this thread.

In the Autumn of 2010 we lost 20k worth of vegetables to early unexpected frost.

Last summer we lost perhaps 10K worth of vegetables to soaked ground.

Plenty this year have lost 100's thousands pounds worth of crops to flooding.

Sheep farmers who house ewes often get disease outbreaks that are expensive.

Most don't feel sorry for themselves they just get on with trying to earn some money to replace losses. Yorkshire hill farmers with large SFP seem rather upbeat at the moment, is there no SFP in Wales?

This was the prediction before the bad weather and the resulting loss of livestock and shortage of grass.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/01/03/2013/137930/welsh-farm-incomes-predicted-to-drop-by-41.htm

 

[RJ1]

http://www.farmersguardian.com/home...s-£6m-fund-for-hard-hit-farmers/55319.article

The above might give you a clue as to why the Welsh hill farmers feel a little cheesed off with Mr Lochhead's counterpart. It's also Mr Davies's attitude which has really done it for many this time, I think.

As for the lack of any real plan for LFA's in Wales, I find this astounding given the acerage which actually falls within such a definition in our country. It's as if he's ensuring that Welsh hill and upland farmers are put firmly on the back foot. Not sure what he's trying to gain from it nor who he's having to listen to - he is completely adament that no LFA scheme will be rolled out. Generally, the UK Govt seems to be taking a similar line - we hate the CAP, it should not exist, but if it does exist we'll make sure that our farmers are put at as much of a disadvantage compared with their European counterparts as possible.

For me, this isn't about a whether payments should exist or not - that's a different argument and I'm sure we'd all love to see a properly functioning market - but this is more about the attitude and at times what seems like contempt shown towards the industry by those supposedly representing it.