Andrew RT Davies has written to the First Minister asking him to personally intervene and ensure a ‘strong support package’ is brought forward urgently by the Welsh Government to help farmers across Wales during the COVID-19 crisis.
On Wednesday, Labour’s Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths, made a statement in the online plenary sitting of the National Assembly, which has sparked widespread anger and concern within the agricultural community in Wales.
The Minister confirmed that farmers are unlikely to be eligible for the Economic Resilience Fund, while she alluded to a “bespoke package”, but no other details were forthcoming. A month into this crisis and farmers in Wales are still in the dark over what support might be available to them.
In his letter, Davies has also called on the Welsh Government to explore reactivating closed sites such as the former Arla Llandyrnog Creamery in Denbighshire to ensure such Welsh produce such as milk is not simply going to waste, after a number of farm businesses across the country have suffered non-collection.
Mr Davies has also reiterated his calls to the Welsh Government to abandon its plans to introduce new agricultural pollution regulations after the Minister published a draft version ealier in the week.
Commenting on the letter, Mr Davies, the Welsh Conservative Rural Affairs spokesman, said:
“The time has come for the First Minister to personally intervene and ensure support measures for farmers is made a priority within the ministries that are responsible for making it happen in Welsh Government.
“We’re a month into this crisis and farmers are still in the dark as to what support they might receive and that’s simply unacceptable, with prices plummeting and produce wasted.
“Sadly, the Minister appears unable to drive solutions forward at pace and that’s very concerning, whilst she’s inexplicably allowing the energies of officials in her department to be used in this crisis on bringing forward regulations which the government’s own regulator have said will make water quality worse. It’s bonkers.
“The agricultural industry in Wales is suffering like every other and it’s imperative that a comprehensive support package is brought forward within the next seven days.”