Farmers plan tractor convoy demo at Welsh Labour conference

Angry Welsh farmers are planning to stage a tractor convoy protest to coincide with the Welsh Labour Party conference in Llandudno, North Wales.

The demo is being organised by the pressure group Digon yw Digon (Enough is Enough) and its farmer supporters on Saturday 17 November.

It comes in response to ongoing concerns among Welsh farmers about various government policies, including plans to apply 20% inheritance tax (IHT) on farming assets worth more than £1m, changes to agricultural subsidies, increasing environmental regulations, and the economic challenges faced by the farming community.

See also: Farmers told to register in advance for London mass rally

Digon yw Digon released a statement saying British farmers “had simply had enough”.

In addition, the group says British farmers will effectively be “going on strike for the first time in their history”, as many are planning to withhold supplies of meat and crops for one week from Sunday 17 November.

“We are being suffocated by a government that seems determined to destroy our livelihoods, our future and our ability to feed the nation,” said the statement.

“This country will be facing massive food shortages with potential significant price increases and the demise of the rural economy – along with a serious implications of food security.

“We simply cannot allow the destruction of our industry to continue and our responsibility to feed our nation be taken away.”

‘Last resort’

Digon yw Digon says they are taking action as a “last resort”, but farmers are “in despair as they cannot afford to provide food to the public”.

“We ask this government to talk to us, to listen to us and allow us the freedom and flexibility to feed our nation,” it added.

Symbolic protest

The tractor convoy is expected to be a large and symbolic protest. Farmers plan to drive their tractors through Llandudno, the venue for the Welsh Labour conference, to draw attention to their grievances.

Some farmers will also use the demo as an opportunity to call for a more proactive stance from the Welsh Labour government on agricultural policies affecting Wales.

These include the upcoming Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), which has a proposal to cover at least 10% of agricultural land in trees and 10% biodiversity, the pan-Wales approach to nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs), which is deeply unpopular with livestock farmers, and spiralling bovine TB rates.

NVZ rules ‘unworkable’

One farmer who plans to join Saturday’s tractor parade told Farmers Weekly that the “farming by calendar” rules on NVZs are “unworkable”.

“We have had the best November we have ever had to carry slurry. Due to the dry weather conditions, everybody is tearing their hair out with not being able to get on the fields because [the Welsh government] are worried about pollution,” the farmer said.

“The farm contractors are at a standstill. It’s costing our economy millions.”

Saturday’s demo will kick-start a week of nationwide action by British farmers.

Many thousands of farmers and their families are expected to descend on London for a mass rally on Tuesday 19 November, which takes place the same day that 1,800 NFU farmer-members participate in a mass lobby of their MPs at Church House, Westminster.

Both events are being held to urge the UK government to reverse its plans for the IHT raid on agricultural assets and to give more recognition to farmers’ principle role as food producers.

Farmers in Herefordshire, meanwhile, are planning a “Back British Farming Rally” in Ledbury from 11am on Tuesday 19 November.