Farmers urged to speak up on EU policy

NFU vice president Gwyn Jones was in Brussels this week to lay out the Union’s position on the future of the EU’s farm policy.

He told Europe’s policy makers: “With agriculture able to offer solutions to many of the challenges facing us in the 21^st century, we need a CAP that underpins productive agriculture and protects our farming businesses against volatility in the marketplace.”

He added British farmers were central to the global food production challenge and a vital component in one of Europe’s largest manufacturing sectors – food.

Strong policy measures would be needed to increase farm power within the supply chain and reduce farmer dependence on subsidies, he stressed. 

“The trouble is farmers are small and diverse and they are not a cohesive unit. Therefore they are there to be picked off very easily by large powerful people.”

Under current circumstances Mr Jones admitted few farmers could survive without the single farm payment but he urged producers to mobilise themselves to demand better contract terms and reduce their reliance on subsidies.

“There has never been a more crucial time to make sure the NFU and its members’ voices are heard,” he said.

Farmers can feed in to the CAP debate through agricultural lobbyists – such as the NFU and CLA – or they can enter the debate personally on the European Commission’s debate page launched this week.  

Watch Gwyn Jones’ interview on the CAP debate here:

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