2021
October
2020
NFU President Minette Batters was interviewed for Countryfile’s look at CAP reform on Sunday evening, and explained the work the NFU had done lobbying the Government and said that direct payments must be extended to allow farmers time to adapt to new schemes.
NFU President Minette Batters was interviewed on Sky News to say that the government’s commitment to continue the same levels of farm funding for 2020 will help farmers manage risk, but that the main thing for farming is that all food imports have been produced to at least the same standards as are legally required of UK farmers.
.@Minette_Batters was on @SkyNews talking about the importance of maintaining farm support and the need for the government to ensure all food imports meet our own high food and farming standards. Watch the full interview from 3.15pm https://t.co/aQutCp5RWL pic.twitter.com/ZNEh3XsmfJ
— National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) December 30, 2019
2019
The government confirmed its commitment to provide £3bn to farmers in 2020 to replace EU subsidies. The Telegraph, Independent and Daily Express covered the story and NFU Cymru member milk board chair Abi Reader was interviewed on Sky News.
.@NFUCymru milk board chair @AbiReader told @SkyNews how British farmers will use support payments to help them become #netzero by 2040. Read the NFU's response to the £3bn funding announcement here https://t.co/fM05GfQaum pic.twitter.com/ULEGcmUo7V
— National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) December 30, 2019
On Farming Today, the programme discussed the announcement from The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) that they will be paying over 22,500 farmers their overdue agri-environment scheme payments by the end of July, with some unpaid claims dating back to 2015. NFU Deputy President Guy Smith was interviewed welcoming the news, but stressed that the late payments were unacceptable and have caused serious issues for farm businesses. The announcement comes after the NFU has been lobbying government for the last 18 months to make these overdue payments.
The Yorkshire Post and other regional newspapers have reported on farmers’ frustration over the lack of clarity on BPS payments for 2020. NFU Vice President Stuart Roberts is quoted saying that farmers need clarity so that they can make informed decisions about next year’s crops.
In an episode of Farming Today (8 mins) the programme looked at whether agri-environment schemes which pay farmers to let hedges grow are helping wildlife. NFU Deputy President Guy Smith was interviewed discussing hedge trimming and the implications of having to trim hedges more often.
NFU Deputy President Guy Smith was interviewed on BBC Countryfile last night as part of a feature looking at why there’s been a long delay in thousands of farmers getting their agri-environment payments. Mr Smith told reporter Tom Heap that “the Government must get these schemes back on track so when farmers enter contracts they’ll have confidence that they will be paid on time”. NFU member Rod Smith was also interviewed as part of the story.