This visit gave the Minister an opportunity to look at some of the issues and challenges facing agriculture, specifically those non-devolved matters such as future UK Government funding for the sector and the UK’s national food security.
Funding for agriculture
Joining Abi Reader on the visit was NFU Cymru President Aled Jones, who was keen to raise with the Minister the issue of funding for agriculture, something which is particularly important now as the 30 October Autumn budget draws ever closer.
Aled Jones said: "Both the UK and Welsh Governments will be setting their budgets in the next few months. Ahead of that we continue to make the case to the UK Government for a ring-fenced agricultural support budget for the length of the current Parliament in order to offer the sector a degree of certainty and stability in a challenging and volatile marketplace. Getting that budget from London to Cardiff is the first crucial step in this process.
Inflation adjustment
"I also raised with the Minister the fact that the budget we had for agriculture in the last Parliament was of course a legacy budget, the size of which was effectively decided over a decade ago. Our ask is that the future budget is adjusted for inflation to restore its real-terms value so that we are best placed to meet our ambitions in relation to food, climate, and nature."
As the Minister looked around Abi’s milking herd, discussion soon turned to food security and the importance of safeguarding domestic primary production in an increasingly unstable world in which complex food supply chains have been stressed and disrupted.
Food security
Abi Reader said: "As a farmer I am really pleased that the Minister has ‘food security’ in his title, and as has been said, food security is indeed national security. The security of our food supply chains is not something any of us can take for granted and recent world events have reminded us of that fact, I am therefore keen to work with politicians in Cardiff and London to ensure that food security remains high on political agendas."
Aled Jones concluded: "It has been great to welcome the Minister to Wales, and to raise these important issues with him. I very much hope that we can continue to work together to help ensure a thriving agricultural sector."
During the visit, Daniel Zeichner was also accompanied by Jane Hutt MS, Kanishka Narayan MP and Huw Irranca-Davies MS.