July 2008 Archives

Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan today welcomed the collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks which threatened the loss of 100,000 agricultural jobs across Europe.

Speaking at the Sheep 2008 event in Malvern, Mr Vaughan said the deal left on the table would have had a detrimental effect on the Welsh farming industry.

"At the same time, however, we recognise that developing countries may not welcome the collapse. But with the agri-food sector vitally important to Wales the collapse of the talks is truly in our national interest."

Nine member states, including Ireland and France, had demanded better terms for the EU during the negotiations in Geneva.

Mr Vaughan said: "Welsh and European farmers must realise how close we have come to a commercial disaster and we must take steps preventing us facing such a situation again."

"The viability of Welsh and European food production and the protection of decent farmer incomes cannot be so casually jeopardised ever again.

"No deal is better than a bad deal for Welsh farming and there is no question that the deal on the table was a bad one."

Founding editor of the Welsh Assembly Government's bilingual Gwlad magazine Roy Hancock is the Farmers' Union of Wales Agricultural Journalist of the Year for 2008.

Roy began his journalistic career in 1963 with the Aberystwyth-based Welsh Gazette and Cambrian News weeklies. He spent 25 years with the Cambrian News including nine years as editor.

He resigned 17 years ago to start his own business but returned to journalism in 1996 as the Western Mail's West Wales reporter. In his four and a half years with the Western Mail he twice won the Journalist of the Month Award.

In November 2001 Roy became founding editor and chief writer of Gwlad which is distributed to approximately 38,000 farmers across Wales and reaches all sectors of the industry.

Roy received his award of an inscribed shepherd's crook from FUW President Gareth Vaughan in the Union's pavilion at the Royal Welsh Show (at 11.00am on Thursday, July 24).

Mr Vaughan said: "Roy is a very worthy candidate for this award. He has been covering the activities of the FUW in his various reporting roles for some 40 years which is something very few people can boast of these days.

"But that is not the only reason why Roy has been chosen to receive the traditional shepherd's crook this year. As founding editor of Gwlad he has helped develop it into a source of news and technical advice that is essential reading for anyone involved in Welsh agriculture.

"Gwlad offers practical advice relevant to every farmer across Wales. It is highly regarded in the farming industry and has a great reputation amongst those that read it or keep it to use as a reference point in the future.

"It is a source of news and technical advice that is essential reading for anyone involved in Welsh agriculture - and that must be firmly attributed to Roy's journalistic talents."

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Cooperation among young farmers will be of growing importance to achieve economies of scale in marketing their produce to powerful organisations such as the supermarkets, says the Farmers' Union of Wales.

Welcoming today's launch of a Welsh Assembly Government consultation on support for young farmers, FUW president Gareth Vaughan said: "We must encourage cooperation between young farmers to foster relationships that will last well into the future.

"The FUW has long pushed for a scheme to help new entrants get a foothold on the ladder of the agricultural industry and last year members voted in favour of using modulated funds to support such a scheme.

"So this consultation is welcome news and we will be consulting members on the best option for the future prospects of our young people. A key issue is the general profitability of the industry.

"We must strive for that in order to make sure any scheme to help young farmers has the desired effect."

During the Royal Welsh Show, Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones said encouraging young entrants to the industry can bring innovation and enthusiasm to farming.

"It is also important in sustaining rural communities and the Welsh culture," she added.

The publication of the consultation meets a One Wales commitment to support young entrants to farming, and includes proposals on how to use £2m of funding available from 2010 to best effect.

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The Farmers' Union of Wales today (Tuesday, July 22) urged national and local government and other public organisations to help cut food miles by buying far more local produce and unveiled a "Shopper's Survival Kit" at the Royal Welsh Show.

The kit - an eco-friendly shopping bag incorporating the FUW's bilingual 'Buy The Welsh One' logo and carrying a trolley coin, pen, and shopping list pad - boosts the union's "Help Cut Food Miles...Buy The Welsh One" campaign launched last year. It will be on sale throughout the show for just £1

During today's press conference in the FUW pavilion on the showfield at Llanelwedd, an excellent example of local food procurement was outlined by Aberystwyth University's farm manager Huw McConnochie and head of hospitality Kevan Downing.

They got together a few months ago and agreed that the university's 10 organic and conventional farm units throughout mid and north Ceredigion should start providing fresh meat and vegetables for its four restaurants and large conference catering service.

"We began with beef and have just introduced lamb. In September we intend to supply potatoes and we also plan to grow about 180 acres of cereals and set up a partnership with Penlon Brewery at Llanarth to supply them with malted barley for their beers," said Mr McConnochie.

"We started by taking two steers or two heifers just 18 miles to William Lloyd Williams' slaughterhouse at Machynlleth and we are now picking up the ready-packed meat when we deliver another two animals for slaughter two weeks later.

"A fortnight ago we started killing lambs when we took six to the slaughterhouse. All in all, we travel just 18 miles there and 18 miles back - you can't have fewer food miles than that. We have even introduced a meat box scheme for staff who can order from a weekly e-mail we send them."

Mr Downing said he and Mr McConnochie were extremely keen on serving local food to staff, students and the increasing number of the public using the university's catering facilities.

"We also serve meat from butcher Robert Rattray, Rachel's Organic yoghurt and dairy products and Birchgrove eggs - all fresh food suppliers from within a few miles of the university's Penglais campus.

"We compost our own waste and Huw is now talking about growing oil seed rape for cooking oil for us to use, and for bio-fuel and mulch to feed to our own cows. He is passionate about making the farms a central and irreplaceable part of the university and I am keen that he and I grow our businesses together in a strong partnership."

Mr Williams, an FUW member, said: "What's better in this day and age than to feed students with food that comes from the University's own farms, rather than sending their produce away while buying in food from god knows where? "Their approach stands in contrast to that adopted by others. For example, I am very unhappy that many unitary authorities are quite willing to take community charges from us and put the business rates up every year, and yet not give local businesses a proper chance to cater for local needs with local produce.

"Aberystwyth University has shown that it does not take very much imagination for an institution to work around these problems and set up a sustainable supply chain that benefits everyone."

FUW president Gareth Vaughan said: "Our 'Buy the Welsh One' campaign is not just about consumers choosing to buy Welsh - it is about everyone doing the right thing - consumers, pubs, restaurants, schools and universities, right up to government departments and Local Health Authorities.

"By asking for the Welsh One you are ensuring that you get top quality produce while acting responsibly towards your own environment and economy.

"Last week I accompanied Dr Ian Reynolds, Chairman of the Meat Hygiene Service and vice chairman of the Food Standards Agency, on a visit to Mr Williams' abattoir in Machynlleth and the next day I was sitting next to scores of diners eating top quality Welsh Black beef that had been reared just a stone's throw from our Aberystwyth headquarters.

"It, too, had been slaughtered in Mr Williams' abattoir just up the road and was being served in a canteen that caters for staff from the FUW, the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, the Countryside Council for Wales, and the Welsh Assembly Government.

"Now that is a prime example of 'buying the Welsh One', and I am delighted that FUW members and staff are so closely involved in this initiative.

"The policies being instigated by the University put many bodies across Wales to shame, and should act as a beacon for all those businesses and public sector bodies who genuinely wish to provide quality produce while helping to protect Wales' environment and economy."

NOTE TO EDITORS: Mr Downing and Welsh speakers Mr Vaughan and Mr McConnochie will be available for interview after the press conference which starts at 11.00am. Samples of the "Shopper's Survival Kit" will also be available to the media.

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The lack of a strong emphasis on food production in the EU's Single Farm Payment regime is astonishing, according to a winner of the Farmers' Union of Wales annual student bursary.

During the formal launch of the 2008 bursary at the Royal Welsh Show today (Monday, July 21), last year's winner, Rhys Beynon-Thomas, complained that under the SFP regime farmers were being paid for being custodians of the environment rather than for producing food.

"There is no emphasis on food production within the regime yet isn't that the sole aim of the industry? Will there be a whole generation one day waking up without food for their breakfast?" asked 21-year-old Rhys, farmer's son of Goitre Fach Farm, Hendy, near Llanelli.

His £1,000 FUW bursary has enabled him to pursue a veterinary medicine course at Bristol University but despite his concerns he predicts a bright future for the industry in Wales although there will be many changes.

He also looks forward to the possibility of expressing firm views in the future about the industry from the point of view of both a farmer and a vet.

The bursary is intended to help more young people enter farming and part of the application involves writing a 1,000-word article on the future of farming in Wales. Unlike previous years three bursaries are up for grabs this year - for £700, £200 and £100.

The three top candidates will be asked to attend a formal interview to discuss their submission and the winners will be announced at this year's Winter Fair.

FUW President Gareth Vaughan said: "In past years there have been many instances of college mergers and closures as competition for funding and students increases, yet the FUW remains committed to ensuring rural colleges stay viable so that the industry can continue to receive young, highly-trained technicians who have received top quality education and training.

"We hope these bursaries go some way towards achieving this aim," said Mr Vaughan. They are open to all Welsh students intending to embark on an agriculture-related course at university or further education college.

Full details on how to apply for the bursaries are included in a leaflet available from the FUW's head office in Aberystwyth or at any of the union's local branch offices as well as on the FUW stand at the Royal Welsh Show.

The closing date for applications is August 31, 2008.

Members of two Farmers' Union of Wales committees have unanimously branded the European Commission position on electronic identification of livestock (EID) as a 'tax on the EU sheep industry'.

FUW livestock committee chairman Aeron Prysor Jones said: "The union has spent years fighting EID and has managed to delay its implementation significantly. However, the current position is that EID will be made compulsory in January 2010.

"This decision is made in spite of a recent EU report that highlights the severe plight of the sheep sector. With money being lost on every sheep, the extra cost of tagging, coupled with the extra time taken to conform with the legislation, will simply add to those losses - it's like taxing EU sheep producers while allowing other countries to import tax-free."

FUW hill farming committee chairman Derek Morgan added: "The EC's decision on this issue is completely illogical - I actually use EID on one of my flocks and the evidence from my farm, and the research from other farms in the UK, makes it clear that the only sensible approach is to allow a voluntary system. It would be completely uneconomical to use the system on my commercial hill flock."

FUW president Gareth Vaughan, who recently attended an International EID Conference in North Devon, said: "The FUW's resolve on this issue has not changed. We have fought against it for many years, have won major concessions, and are committed to continuing our fight.

"This includes making the Commission properly apply the principles of 'equivalence' to all imports into the EU - it is simply not right to make Welsh farmers pay for a costly system that has major drawbacks while allowing our competitors to import meat that has not had to comply with those standards."

NOTE TO EDITORS: At this week's Royal Welsh Show farmers and members of the general public will have the opportunity to sign a petition opposing the compulsory introduction of EID, which compliments an ongoing petition set up by FUW vice president Glyn Roberts on the Prime Minister's website. The petition can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/sheepEID/

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Shoppers facing spiralling food prices were urged in an eve of the Royal Welsh Show plea by Farmers' Union of Wales leaders not to heap the blame on farmers.

"Latest figures from DairyCo Datum reveal the price paid to farmers for milk actually fell between March and April to an average of 24.91p per litre yet the supermarkets are charging well over three times as much," said FUW vice president Eifion Huws.

During this week's show a life-size model of a dairy cow Tegwen - Welsh for "fair" and "white" - painted in the colours of the Welsh flag will highlight the European Milk Board's (EMB) campaign to achieve a fair farmgate price for milk.

"According to a price comparison website, the three main supermarkets - Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's - have increased the cost of a basket of 24 staple products by 21 per cent compared to this time last year," said Mr Huws, an Anglesey dairy farmer.

"A family with two or three children, who typically spent £100 a week on groceries a year ago, has seen its annual food bill rise from £5,200 to £6,292. And it's the basket's most basic items such as milk, bread, rice, pasta and eggs that are increasing in price the fastest.

"But at the same time farmers are forced to pay more for fuel, fertiliser and animal feed," added Mr Huws, who was recently re-elected chairman of the union's milk and dairy produce committee.

"For example, fertiliser prices continued to rise between May and June by £6 per tonne to £335 and feed prices averaged £310/tonne in June - some £43 (16.1%) more than in May and £59/tonne (23.5%) more than in June last year.

"And we all know what has happened to fuel prices. The Chancellor's decision earlier this week to postpone the 2p fuel duty increase once again is a tiny and long overdue gesture.

"Meanwhile, the big supermarkets report higher and higher profit margins so I urge shoppers not to blame farmers for price increase - they should point their fingers elsewhere.

FUW president Gareth Vaughan called on farmers signing up to agreements to supply supermarkets with farm produce to check the small print carefully.

"I understand some of these agreements give permission for supermarkets to inspect farm accounts and access commercially sensitive information. Farmers should make doubly sure they know exactly what they are signing up to before going ahead."

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Media events taking place at the FUW Pavilion alongside the Main Ring include:

Monday (July 21) 3.00pm - Press launch of the FUW's annual £1,000 student bursary by last year's winner, farmers's son and Welsh-speaker Rhys Beynon-Thomas of Goitre Fach Farm, Hendy, near Llanelli, who is studying veterinary medicine at Bristol University and has strong views about the future of Welsh farming.

Tuesday (July 22) 11.00am - Press conference building on the union's ongoing "Help Cut Food Miles...Buy The Welsh One" awareness campaign. In attendance will be the farms manager (a Welsh speaker) and the head of hospitality at Aberystwyth University whose restaurants and conference catering service have just started serving fresh meat direct from the college farms via a Machynlleth slaughterhouse. There are also plans to serve potatoes grown on the college farms from September. There will also be a photo opportunity of the FUW's "Shopper's Survival Kit" which comprises an eco-friendly shopping bag, trolley coin, pen, shopping list pad and stickers - all incorporating the FUW's bilingual "Buy The Welsh One" logo.

Wednesday afternoon (July 23) - Subject to player availability, the FUW will celebrate Welsh rugby's recent Grand Slam with the launch of a stress rugby ball incorporating the slogan "WELSH GRAND SLAMB 2008". The ball will be ideal to calm the nerves during next year's Grand Slam matches and while queuing at supermarket check-outs after "Buying The Welsh One"!

Wednesday 6.00pm - FUW reception and presentation of 50th anniversary gold medal to the Tenant Farmers Association's first life president Reg Haydon, who recently retired after 13 years as the association's chairman.

Thursday (July 24) 11.00am - Presentation of FUW's annual Agricultural Journalist of the Year shepherd's crook award.

Carmarthen farmer Lynn Davies is the winner of the 2008 Farmers' Union of Wales/Sioe Sir Gâr special award for outstanding service to agriculture in Carmarthenshire.

Mr Davies, of Pentremeurig, College Road, Carmarthen, one of the third generation of the same family to farm at Pentremeurig, has been involved with the YFC movement for over 45 years as a member and leader.

During this time he was selected as a YFC ambassador to visit Iran as leader of a party of six members and, as a leader of 13 members from the British Isles, to visit Ghana in north west Africa.

Mr Davies has been actively involved in the affairs of the United Counties Agriculture Society for over 40 years, particularly in the development of the permanent showground at Nantyci, Carmarthen.

He became chairman of the United Counties Show Society in 2000.

Mr Davies is a founder member and chairman, since 1999, of the Welsh Dairy Show, now one of the most prominent one-day events in the country.

He has also been greatly involved with the Holstein Friesian Society, being awarded the "Club Award" by Holstein UK in recognition of his work and commitment during his time as their chairman.

In 2007 he was awarded the Certificate of Associateship of the Royal Agricultural Societies for his submission "The promotion and sustainability of rural life in Carmarthenshire".

FUW Carmarthenshire county executive officer Meinir Bartlett said: "The union is pleased to be associated with this award and Mr Davies is a very worthy recipient. He is very well known and highly regarded by fellow agriculturalists."

CAPTION: Meinir Bartlett presents the award to Lynn Davies with (left to right) award judge Gwylim Francis, of show sponsors Lloyds TSB Bank; Roy Jones, FUW Carmarthenshire county chairman; and award judges Tom Phillips, Sioe Sir Gâr president; and Brian Walters, FUW national vice president.

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The Farmers' Union of Wales has welcomed today's announcement that Environment, Sustainability and Housing Minister Jane Davidson proposes to address the issue of providing homes for retiring farmers and for family members working on farms.

"So many farming businesses are now partnerships of parents and siblings, with the labour requirement of the business demanding two or even three labour units," said the union's business development director Emyr James.

"All labour units need essential farm workers, who require living accommodation on or close to the farm but difficulties arise when a son marries. However, securing planning permission for an additional dwelling on the farm is a complex process at present, with a number of qualifying provisions.

"It is hoped that Ms Davidson's promise to extend the definition of 'rural workers' as defined by TAN 6 will remove many of the current obstacles restricting development in open countryside.

"At present, Planning Policy Wales and Local Authority Plans make no provisions for a retiring farmer. Very few farmers ever retire - they may take a less active role but will remain part of the business well into retirement age.

"If providing homes for retired farmers means a dwelling house on the farm, this indeed would be good news. We look forward to the consultation process."

Ms Davidson's proposals aim to address the issues of providing homes for retiring farmers and for family members working on farms who have difficulty finding affordable housing.

The overall aim is to provide changes to the planning system that would make communities throughout Wales more sustainable.

A number of innovative proposals on sustaining rural communities are outlined in the consultation document to:

* Allow new-build housing for people working in legitimate rural businesses, farmers who are retiring and family members working on the farm.

* All new housing developments will have to contribute towards the provision of affordable homes.

* Enable local planning authorities to develop policies for low impact development schemes, where people live and work on the land and are self-sustaining in food, energy and waste.

Ms Davidson said: "Providing affordable homes for people who live and work in rural areas is a major commitment of the Assembly Government's One Wales document. I am determined to provide the support, through our planning guidelines, to help build living, sustainable communities."

The consultation starts today (July 7) and closes on October 10. To see the consultation document visit www.wales.gov.uk/Planning.