The Welsh government has announced that it will provide approximately £15 million in funding to support the Welsh dairy and red meat industries in the face of Brexit.
Rural affairs cabinet secretary Lesley Griffiths announced the move at this year’s Royal Welsh Show, one of the UK’s largest agriculture events.
According to Griffiths, £9.2 million will be made available to the Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) Red Meat Development Programme, which provides support to farmers through lessons at demonstration farms, discussion groups and knowledge transfer officers, to improve competitiveness in the sector.
Meanwhile, a further £6.5 million will be invested in two projects which will seek to “improve the profitability and resilience of the Welsh dairy sector.”
Griffiths said the investment is an opportunity to “forge a new consensus on the role of farmers in Wales”.
“The way we manage our land matters, especially if we are to produce outcomes of importance to everyone in Wales.
“The current CAP does not help us to achieve these outcomes and is not designed to realise the full value of the land.”
The move comes as industry figures voice their concerns about the potential impact of Brexit on Welsh agriculture, as HCC chairman Kevin Roberts claimed that a ‘no deal’ Brexit outcome would be “catastrophic” for Wales’s red meat industry.
He said: “We have consistently warned of the potential consequences of a hard, chaotic Brexit, and I would like to sound that warning yet again.
“It would provide a sudden, seismic shock to our red meat sector. Tariffs at any level would be a tourniquet on trade – and the unthinkable, a no deal Brexit, would be catastrophic for our stakeholders.”
The National Farmer’s Union (NFU) Cymru and the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) also released a joint statement at the show highlighting the importance of the red meat industry to the Welsh economy.
NFU Cymru president John Davies and chief executive of the BMPA Nick Allen said: “The BMPA and NFU Cymru have a shared ambition for Wales to be a world-leading producing and processing country of red meat.
“We want to ensure that the desire of the consumer to have affordable supplies of high quality, fully traceable food is delivered by the Welsh red meat supply chain.
“We are calling on Welsh Government to share our vision and to work with us to deliver policies that see us build and grow the market for PGI Welsh lamb and beef.”
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