Cant survive without
Cant survive without
support from HLCAs
Hill producers are becoming increasingly reliant on Hill
Livestock Compensatory Amounts. Heres how one Powys
producer values their contributions
WELSH hill farming is in a crisis that neither better management nor keener marketing can solve.
That is the pessimistic view of Powys farmer Derek Morgan, who chairs the Hill Farming Committee of the Farmers Union of Wales.
Acknowledging the inbred resilience of upland stock producers, he still believes that there is a high risk of many being forced out of business.
"Morale is at rock bottom, and farmers simply cannot see a way out of their difficulties," says Mr Morgan. "They have seen incomes fall by around 50% in two years, and lower than expected lamb prices mean that the position is far worse than when industry representatives met ministers before Christmas.
"Politicians are not fools. They and their officials can understand the figures. The question is what sort of agricultural structure they want in future. If they want to keep people farming the hills and supporting rural communities and ancillary industries they must be prepared to back us."
Whatever form that support takes, he argues that Hill Livestock Compensatory Allow-ances must be the core payments. Those acknowledge and compensate for the special problems faced by less favoured area producers, large and small, and should be isolated from production subsidies.
"HLCAs are essential socio-economic payments. Without them many hill producers could not survive. I hope the current economic review of the value of HLCAs will convince the government that at least we have to get back to 1992 payment levels, plus inflation."
Although he picks up about £2000 a year in environmentally sensitive area payments, Mr Morgan is wary of switching support to agri-environment schemes. Too often he says the rates paid do not fairly compensate for production losses resulting from stocking and management prescriptions, especially on smaller units. He wants farmers to be able to choose whether they earn a fair living from EU supported food production, or far less intensive farming.
Although he considers support payments are vital, he also accepts that producers must strive to be as efficient as possible. At Safan-y-coed, Llangurig, he is trying to maintain the pasture improvements made to 64ha (160 acres) of enclosed land in the 60s and 70s.
He is involved in ram performance testing to improve the quality of his 600 Elan Valley type Welsh Mountain ewes. In the past five years the average weight of finished lambs sold has increased by about 0.9kg (2lb) a head. More importantly selection, based on eye muscle and back-fat scanning and breed type, has improved the conformation and saleability of the lambs and breeding females he markets.
"Whatever we do to improve our products, and to rear every lamb and calf born, we are still at the mercy of the market and politicians. Hill farming used to be tough but an enjoyable way of life; this is no longer true. Uncertainty about prospects for the medium and long term is putting enormous pressure on farmers. So it is small wonder that so many sons, like my two, are turning their backs on the industry." *
Government support is an essential means of safeguarding hill farming and the rural communities it supports, says Derek Morgan.