Politics

Issues such as a lack of agricultural labour have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, but Brexit is their root cause, says John Finnie, Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

More than half of the British public see domestic food production as more important now than they did before the coronavirus pandemic, new research has shown.

NFU Cymru has called on the Welsh Government to redeploy rural development cash to support farming businesses through the coronavirus pandemic.

NFU president Minette Batters says a dairy hardship payment expected to be announced by Government this week has not come quick enough for farmers battling ‘market collapse’.

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has confirmed it will offer bridging loans to farmers still waiting for 2019 stewardship payments.

The Tenant Farmers’ Association (TFA) has called on Government to ensure farm payments are made on time as the deadline to claim was extended due to disruption caused by the coronavirus.

The coronavirus has shown we can pull together as a community to get things done. We must keep the same spirit to push on with Brexit, says David Herbert, a South Welsh smallholder producing eggs and poultry.

Farmers will need a serious cash injection from the Government if they are to survive this pandemic, then Brexit, says Deirdre Brock, SNP rural affairs spokesman in Westminster.

The Covid-19 nightmare may have handed UK farming an opportunity to resolve a major Brexit threat – loss of EU labour. Let’s make sure we give our new ‘land army’ a good experience this summer, says George Dunn, chief executive of the TFA.

The Government is being urged to protect agriculture and environment budgets over the coming years, with spiralling spending on the coronavirus pandemic prompting fears of a new round of austerity.