We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.FUW demands hill farm support extension
THE Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) is demanding the Wales-based Tir Mynydd hill farming support scheme should be extended and the start date for the Assembly’s proposed Glastir land management replacement scheme postponed.
Under the current proposals, the last Tir Mynydd scheme year will be 2010 while the Glastir scheme will not start until 2012, meaning there will be a 12-month gap without any LFA or similar scheme running.
Following meetings today (Wednesday, November 25) with Assembly officials, Derek Morgan, the FUW’s hill farming and marginal land committee chairman said: “The budget for the 2011 Tir Mynydd scheme was originally set at £25 million, which would normally have been paid in early 2012.
“But now this money seems to have been shifted, leaving a 12-month period with no scheme running at all.
“There are other complex issues that need addressing in terms of the new Glastir scheme, as well - particularly with regard to the precise scheme rules and farmers’ inability to make business decisions based on unknown outcomes of current negotiations.
“There are also major questions about how the scheme will operate on the common land that is so crucial to many regions of Wales.
“The FUW remains fundamentally opposed to the abandonment of Tir Mynydd and its replacement with a non-LFA scheme and we believe there is significant justification for postponing the 2012 Glastir implementation date.”