SUPPORTING OUR FARMERS

A Plaid Cymru government, if elected in May, is committed to being a strong voice for Wales’s rural communities. For far too long, Labour Ministers have consistently undermined our vital agriculture industry by making Wales the most controlled country in Europe – a decision that took £250 million out of the pockets of Welsh farmers.

Plaid Cymru wants to put this right by bringing forward policies that will ensure that the industry prospers in future. Our agriculture manifesto includes ambitious but achievable proposals to address Labour’s CAP fiasco and make sure Welsh farmers have a stronger voice in CAP simplification discussions, and scrap the six-day-standstill rule which is hampering farm businesses at the very time we need more flexibility.

Plaid Cymru has a strong track record of supporting agriculture and campaigning for rural service. Plaid’s pledges for our farmers and the agricultural sector include:

•         A fair price for produce.
•      Maximize benefits to Wales from the next CAP.
•      Use the most effective measures to control and eradicate bTB
•      Appoint an Industry Champion to promote welsh food and farming.
•      Strengthen the voice of rural communities by establishing Rural Parliament.

The Party of Wales would also introduce a strategy to save council farms from being sold off, under a wider programme to support new entrants into the industry. As part of Plaid Cymru’s wider proposals to raise procurement levels throughout Wales, Plaid would ensure that the agriculture industry benefits from this by increasing the amount of Welsh food purchased by the public sector.

CON DEM CAP CUT

News that the Conservative and Lib Dem plans to cut European farming subsidies over the coming years would spell disaster for the local economy. At the moment the Con Dem government is lobbying the European commission to cut the payments which amount to £280 million in Wales every year which comes in at a staggering injection of £1.4 billion over the course of the next Assembly term.

In a recent response to the Commission, the Conservative and Lib Dem UK government said, "There must therefore be a very substantial cut to the CAP Budget during the next Financial Framework." It's important to remember that one size does not fit all, farming in Wales works differently when compared to large parts of England, so if such a huge amount of money is taken out of the rural economy of Wales, jobs will be lost and many agricultural towns would be decimated.

If the Con Dem plans come into effect it will be a pretty well near fatal blow to many if not most farming businesses in Wales. The UK government doesn't seem to care about the implications of what its saying in our agricultural areas. The hundreds of millions of pounds that come to Wales from Europe every year do not stay in the pockets of farmers - it is the life-blood of farming and rural communities across Wales, and helps to keep shops, post offices and local banks open and keeps people in jobs.

Fortunately in Wales, we have had, Plaid's Elin Jones who (as Agriculture Minister) has fought hard to ensure that Wales' farmers concerns are heard at the highest level in Europe and that the Commission knows how damaging the Tory Lib Dem plans would be for our farmers.

No doubt some Conservatives will cynically deny what their party is trying to do - but we have it in black and white. The UK government's response to the commission says it all - they care nothing for our farming industry and they care nothing for the rural towns that depend on it. Yet another reason to think about voting Plaid twice on May 5th!