United We Stand - UKIP Wales 2017 General Election Manifesto

Farming
UKIP believes that true and proper autonomy should be granted to farmers. As a consequence of Britain’s
membership of the EU, farmers have been plagued by burdensome directives and regulations
which have crippled the industry. UKIP will be a voice for farmers in the post-Brexit era, ensuring EU
bureaucracy is not replaced with invasive legislation from Westminster. Instead, voluntary solutions
should be a favoured approach to the problems faced.
Brexit provides UK and Welsh Ministers with an opportunity to secure a prosperous future for farmers
by implementing new legislation which works for Wales, as opposed to the EU’s one size fits all approach.
UKIP would:
1. Introduce a modified UK Single Farm Payment (SFP) scheme of £80 per acre for lowland farms,
and these payments should be paid to those who take financial responsibility for the land, which
in many cases is the farmer not the landowner.
2. Support hill farming, a sector of the industry dominant throughout Wales. We feel this sector
should receive support based on the number of animals, a policy which would result in Welsh
farmers receiving increased funding. We also believe that hill farmers should receive additional
headage payments on livestock within World Trade Organisation rules. For every £5 British agriculture
receives, British taxpayers have already contributed £10.
3. Support farms which have invested in good land management practises and acknowledge their
contributions to the wider environment.
4. Ensure accurate labelling of products showing the country of origin, method of production, method
of transport and the method of slaughter.
5. Opposes any move towards greater restrictions on cattle movements, which are already some of
the strictest throughout Europe. It is our view that a new approach should be established to deal
with the threat of Bovine TB by adhering to the advice offered by the British Veterinary Association
and farming unions.
6. Ensure animal cruelty convictions result in custodial sentences.
7. Introduce a requirement to undertake formal training for all religious slaughtermen practising
non-stun methods of slaughter.
8. Remove unnecessary EU restrictions that make small local abattoirs unviable.