NFU Cymru President, John Davies has today given evidence to the House of Commons’ Welsh Affairs Committee as part of its inquiry into the impact of the coronavirus on the Welsh economy.
Speaking after the online session, Mr Davies said: “I was really pleased to be able to appear before the committee today. It’s been very useful for me to be able to set out the vital role farmers have to play as food producers and to explain some of the issues our sector faces now, and going into the future. Agriculture, and livestock agriculture in particular, has long production cycles. This can create real difficulties when markets and demand patterns change as suddenly as they did when lockdown measures were introduced. These difficulties are currently being felt most acutely in the dairy and beef sectors as supply chains struggled to re-align when demand for meat and dairy products in the foodservice sector dried up overnight. The primary producer has borne the price for this supply chain disruption.
“I think one thing the Coronavirus has also illustrated very well is the value of having our own domestic primary production base. A number of critical policy choices will be made before too long, including around future trade deals with the EU27 and third countries, and also around arrangements for future support for agriculture. Food security and safeguarding domestic production must be front and centre of the policy choices made by politicians over the coming months and years.
“It's going to be a significant challenge to get the economy back on track after Coronavirus, and whatever the ‘new normal’ is after Covid-19, it will be different to what went before. Before the Coronavirus outbreak, around half of all UK food spend was outside of the home. The foodservice sector and those involved in supplying are therefore going to take quite some time to recover from this pandemic.
“We have to put measures in place to mitigate the risk of similar disruption in future, and ensure that we have robust and resilient supply chains into both foodservice and retail, and that if the worst should happen that these supply chains are able to flex and adjust to any new demands placed upon them. Crucially, the primary producer should not end up carrying a disproportionate share of the risk.
“There is a significant role for governments in London and Cardiff in ensuring that resilience and capacity is built into supply chains through policy choices made around things such as public procurement, future trade policy and future support for agriculture, and these are points which I have emphasised to the committee today.”
Mr Davies also took the opportunity to express the union’s gratitude to all those working in the front line of dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. He extended the union’s condolences to all those who had lost family, friends and loved ones as a result of the pandemic.