|
Welsh Parliament |
|
|
Pwyllgor yr Economi, Masnach a Materion Gwledig |
Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee |
|
Bil Amaethyddiaeth (Cymru) |
Agriculture (Wales) Bill |
|
AGR-30 |
|
|
Ymateb gan: AIC Cymru |
Evidence from: AIC Cymru |
AIC Cymru’s response to the Agriculture (Wales) Bill
About the AIC
The Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) is the agri-supply industry’s leading trade association with over 230 Members across the UK, and represents over £9 billion turnover at farmgate. AIC represents several sectors within the agri-supply industry including Animal Feed; Crop Protection and Agronomy; Fertilisers; Grain and Oilseed; Seed.
AIC Cymru as part of the wider AIC UK represents some £900 million turnover at an agri supply farm gate level in Wales, has some 33 members operating in Wales and represents more than 1000 jobs in Wales.
The agricultural supply industry, as does the whole of agriculture recognises, that this is a most important piece of legislation. For the first time this bill gives Wales the opportunity to implement its own food and farming policy, made in Wales for the people of Wales.
With unprecedented challenges on the cost of energy, ag-input inflation running at 31%, the need for food production in a environmentally sustainable manner and the need to move to net zero by 2040, never has it been so critical to get this bill right from the onset.
The Agricultural Wales Bill framework must seek to:
· Secure the production of high quality, affordable food for all in society by enhancing the ability to produce food for the nation.
· Improve on farm productivity promoting the sustainable growth of Welsh food and drink sector – Wales’s biggest employer.
· Underpin the financial resilience of family farms and in so doing, sustaining rural
communities, language, culture, and heritage.
· Maintain and enhance nature and the environment while also supporting the delivery of the vision to reach net zero agriculture by 2040
This Bill makes good progress since Welsh Government began the consultation process back in 2018 and it is pleasing to see that food production is now part of Welsh Government thinking alongside climate and environmental objectives.
Nevertheless, the outcomes of the bill must be strengthened further to recognise the global responsibility to maintain and enhance where possible the production of food from Wales. Those outcomes should better recognise that the countryside,cultural resources, and the Welsh language can only be preserved and enhanced if Welsh farming businesses are economically viable.
AIC Cymru is well placed to support these outcomes.
Our member companies operating in Wales have close to 100 Technical Advisors going down the farm drive to provide valuable on farm advice in and on:
· Animal Feed
· Nutrition, Feed innovation to reduce emissions
· Farm nutrient management
· Soil and environmental natural capital management
We operate a range of AIC Assurance Schemes to maintain and deliver the highest food and animal welfare standards
Industry is well placed to consult and to provide advice to farmers and landowners in Wales on the outcomes Welsh Government wishes to see from the Agricultural Bill and the mechanism of implementation through the Sustainable Farming
This is a very important waypoint in Welsh agriculture. This Bill will ground core principals of food and our environment, and act as a guide for future generations. Whether it be move to move sustainable ways of producing and managing farm inputs, to more efficient distribution, to offering innovative new ways to farm more productively whilst protecting and building our natural resources, AIC Cymru stands ready to work with Welsh Government in the long term to ensure these goals are met
