51AVÊÓƵ

51AVÊÓƵgroups have welcomed Government plans to scrap EU greening requirements for direct payments from 2021.

A top Welsh Government (WG) official has said he expects ‘business casualties’ from the twin pressures of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has held the attention of the world since January, but as the UK stumbles towards the end of the Brexit transition period, there is an urgent need to refocus.

The First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, has said his Government will be ‘sensitive’ to coronavirus issues faced by farmers when setting a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) phaseout timetable.

The Food and Drink Sector Council (FDSC) has called on Government to delay ‘business as usual’ legislation and consultations while the sector focuses on recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 15,250 Scottish farmers and crofters will shortly receive £6.39m ahead of schedule under the Financial Discipline Mechanism.

UK agricultural exports are facing the prospect of crippling EU tariffs from the end of this year, with the Government said to be ‘close to abandoning hope’ of reaching a trade deal with the bloc.

Without some serious changes, the Trade and Agriculture Commission could end up becoming little more than a fig leaf for the Government’s failure to protect production standards in law, says Labour Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner.

Strange claims about trade deals with other countries increasing UK farmers’ use of insecticides must be taken with a pinch of salt, says Adam Speed, head of communications at the Crop Protection Association (CPA).

With the chance of reaching a good trade deal with the EU slipping away, we may soon need to start knitting parachutes for a cliff edge exit in December, says Matt Legge, a sheep, beef and pig farmer from the Isle of Wight.