This week we well and truly look towards winter as the clock has turned back, meaning lighter mornings but darker afternoons and pitch black evenings. We are ever so fortunate to have the ability now to continue to work under the cover of darkness inside warm lighted sheds and associated farm buildings. The animals seem to enjoy it as well! Power and technology has transformed the way we farm and live our lives in rural Wales. How on earth did our forefathers manage?

This is a crucial week in politics, for the UK’s financial well-being and also the future funding of agriculture as we hear the first autumn budget by a Labour government for 14 years. That is the reason why the FUW sent a stark letter to the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the First Minister ten days ago. In it we made a strong case for continued support for Welsh agriculture, for farm businesses and for rural areas.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of Westminster’s corridors of power, it is too easy to forget about Wales, and all that we achieve as a nation. Furthermore, I hope that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, is worried about rural Wales, food production, small businesses and our environment. By the time you read this column, we will know.

Our discussions as a Union, in recent months, has been around the development of the Agriculture (Wales) Act and a replacement support policy for agriculture. These appear to be a seismic shift away from European principles that continue to underpin the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) framework such as protecting farm incomes and food supplies and towards ‘Sustainable Land Management’ objectives.

Such a shift in priorities is important given that approximately 80% of farm businesses in Wales would not generate an annual profit without receiving current forms of farm support. In addition, farming families continue to face a plethora of other challenges relating to bovine TB outbreaks and stringent water quality regulations while witnessing cuts in agricultural and rural development funding here in Wales of around a quarter of a billion pounds over the past five years due to the failure of the last Government to deliver fully on their 2019 manifesto promise.

Whilst the Welsh Government has committed to the Basic Payment Scheme and other interim schemes including the Habitat Wales Scheme and Organic Support Payments for 2025, these commitments must, at the very least, be underpinned by maintaining current levels of funding that sits outside the Barnett Formula to ensure an effective preparatory phase and transition to the Sustainable Farming Scheme.

It is clear that the final Sustainable Farming Scheme will require a secure multi-annual budget as farmers are expected to deliver a plethora of environmental public goods alongside the production of sustainable food.

The current agricultural and rural development budget is over ten years old, set in 2013 by the European Union (EU). According to the Bank of England Inflation Calculator, the EU CAP budget for Wales of around £331 million per year allocated in 2013 should now be worth around £450 million.

The FUW has called for an inflation-proofed, multi-annual commitment of at least £450 million per year in EU CAP legacy funding for agriculture and rural development in Wales for the remainder of this parliament. By the time you read these words, we will know if the UK Treasury and The Chancellor of the Exchequer have listened to the sector.

Any decisions that threaten the viability and succession of our family farms will also threaten UK food security. Any responsible government would prioritise our own food security in the volatile global setting we find ourselves in by committing to a fair funding settlement for Welsh agriculture and providing reassurance to farmers that Annual Percentage Rate will remain unchanged. We’ll await with bated breath when Rachel Reeves steps up to the podium…