March 2009 Archives

The Farmers' Union of Wales's Anglesey branch will be visiting the island's Caergeiliog Foundation School next Friday (April 3) to raise awareness of ticks - not the satisfying exercise book marks but the nasty wingless parasites.

County executive officer Heidi Williams has arranged for Catherine Woodward, a veterinary surgeon from Bodrwnsiwn Veterinary Group, and Holyhead GP Dr William Roberts to give sound advice to children on how best to prevent, identify and treat tick bites.

"Tick Prevention Week takes place between April 6 and 12 and this all-important session is well timed just before the children break up for the Easter holidays and will be venturing outdoors in the warmer weather," said Mrs Williams.

Ticks are usually found on low plants and in leaf litter and are more abundant in late spring to early summer, and again during autumn, but they can be active all year round during milder weather above 3.5 degrees C.

Tick Prevention Week is an annual campaign organised by BADA-UK (Borreliosis & Associated Diseases Awareness UK). It is timed to coincide with the spring holidays when the weather gets warmer and more people get out and about.

"Tick numbers have been increasing," said Mrs Williams. "This is largely due to warmer winters, an increase in host animals (such as deer), and changes in farming practices.

"A greater number of ticks results in more tick encounters for people and pets and more cases of infection. Since 2001, cases of Borreliosis (Lyme disease) have trebled in England and Wales and increased in Scotland by a factor of eight."

Simple actions can deter ticks from biting us. If infection should occur, early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent any lasting effects.

This year, Tick Prevention Week focuses on children and making sure that they are tick aware too. BADA-UK chairman Wendy Fox said: "Ticks are a part of nature and there is no need to panic about them.

"However, we should be aware of where they are likely to be, how to prevent them from biting us, and what to do if we are bitten, because they can sometimes make us sick.

"Teaching children about ticks does not need to be scary. It's no different to making sure they put on a seat belt in the car or that they don't take sweets from strangers.

"It is very important that a child knows to come and tell an adult if they have been bitten."

The Farmers' Union of Wales revealed today it is preparing a case for the European Ombudsman to investigate the EC's handling of the introduction of compulsory electronic identification (EID) of sheep.

Chairman of the FUW's hill farming committee, Llangurig sheep farmer Derek Morgan, told the Assembly's rural development sub-committee of the union's intentions to contact the Ombudsman during a meeting at Lampeter University.

"I made it perfectly clear to the sub-committee that the union is leaving no stone unturned regarding this ridiculous regulation, and that we believe there are sufficient grounds for the EU Ombudsman to investigate the fact that we will next year be forced to use a technology that has been shown to have major flaws.

"I have first hand experience of EID, having used it on a small proportion of my Welsh Mountain sheep for the past six years, and found that the technology is not sufficiently developed to be practical for the average Welsh flock. This has also been the experience of the vast majority of farmers and slaughterhouses taking part in the latest trials.

"Even when dealing with a small number of sheep that are electronically identified, we are forced to manually record information on paper due to reliability issues with the technology. It's all very well using it to record and monitor a small specialist flock, but scaling its use up for every sheep in the country is madness."

In a written submission to the sub-committee's EID inquiry, the FUW emphasised the particular problems the regulation would bring for Welsh farmers, highlighting the fact that 80% of Wales comprises Less Favoured land, and that Welsh farms are therefore dependent upon moving animals from the mountains into the lowlands for wintering.

"The impracticality of recording such movements individually on paper means that Welsh farmers are likely to have to invest more heavily in the technology than those in other countries.

"Wales' largely Less Favoured status also means that Welsh farms are particularly reliant on livestock markets in terms of selling animals to finishers from the lowlands, and the cost of implementing the regulation in markets is likely to either be passed on to farmers, or result in market closures.

"The FUW maintains that the current system of recording and reporting sheep movements represents a more than adequate method of sheep traceability for the purposes of disease control.

"Moreover, the experiences of industry and government during the 2007 Foot and Mouth disease outbreak clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of existing controls in terms of limiting the spread of a virulent animal disease, and problems encountered by the authorities were not related to the absence of a system of recording individual sheep movements.

"The FUW believes that it is unacceptable that the EU intends to impose the costs and impracticalities of EID on farmers within some Member States, while not requiring Third Countries, against which we compete to comply with similar systems of traceability.

"In conclusion, the FUW believes that there is overwhelming evidence to support the withdrawal of the current regulation regarding sheep EID, and that the Ombudsman must investigate this matter thoroughly."

Dairy UK's Farmers Forum chairman Roger Evans issued a stark warning about future milk production levels when he met the Farmers' Union of Wales' milk and dairy produce committee.

During the meeting in Aberystwyth, Mr Evans, a former chairman of First Milk, told the committee of his concerns about the ongoing decline of milk production and dairy farmer numbers.

"Milk production is now at its lowest for over thirty years and something must change in order to arrest this decline," said Mr Evans, who farms 350 acres in Shropshire.

"I am also extremely concerned that this decline will accelerate as dairy farmers struggle to meet the costs of complying with NVZ regulations."

Committee members called for a fundamental change to address the imbalance between farmgate and supermarket check out prices.

After the meeting, committee chairman Eifion Huws said: "There was unanimous agreement with the sentiments expressed by Mr Evans and the union will shortly be meeting with politicians in Westminster and Cardiff in order to raise our concerns.

"It is imperative both government and supermarkets take a long term view in order to address issues such as food security and market volatility.

"Companies that take the short term view undermine farmgate prices making it impossible for businesses to plan for the future.

"Family farms are the backbone of the dairy industry in Wales and the ongoing exodus from the industry should be a major cause of concern for government, consumers, and all those involved in the dairy supply chain."

NOTE TO EDITORS: A photograph taken during the meeting is attached. Caption: From left, Roger Evans, FUW policy officer Hazel Wright and Eifion Huws.

The FUW today rebuffed claims by animal rights groups that proposals to cull badgers to control bovine TB would make it impossible to know which parts of a control strategy may work.

FUW vice president Brian Walters said: "There is solid scientific data that shows controlling badger numbers reduces incidences of TB by between 50 and 60 per cent. There is also solid scientific evidence showing that cattle controls, when applied in the absence of a wildlife reservoir, reduce TB incidences.

"We therefore know that a combination of both policies will accelerate the eradication of TB.

"No-one with a rudimentary knowledge of basic scientific principles would deny this, and in my mind claims to the contrary by animal rights groups such as the RSPCA and the Badger Trust demonstrate their wish to mislead the general public."

Mr Walters, a Carmarthen organic dairy farmer, also condemned comments by animal rights groups as "deliberately inflammatory" and "designed to mislead the general public".

"The RSPCA has described the decision as one that will ''eliminate badgers from a large area of the Welsh countryside''. Yet even after five years of badger removal in the English trials badgers numbers remained at levels well above the European average.

"The Minister has also made it clear that healthy badgers could be relocated into the area in order to ensure a sustainable and healthy livestock and badger population would coexist, side by side.

"The comments of the RSPCA are therefore utterly misleading, and the general public must not to allow these to deceive them. Anyone who reads this nonsense should take a step back and look at this situation rationally.

"The science shows that the prevalence of disease in badgers is thousands of per cent higher than it is in cattle, and we know that the disease can pass back and forth between both species, so we clearly need to control the disease in both cattle and badgers.

"That does not mean eradicating either badgers or cattle. The science supports the measures that have been proposed and no one should allow themselves to be misled by statements made by the RSPCA, the Badger Trust, or anyone else."

Welsh farmers' strong objections to EU plans to introduce electronic identification (EID) of sheep were today firmly underlined to Defra Farming and the Environment Minister Jane Kennedy by the Farmers' Union of Wales deputy president Emyr Jones.

Mr Jones met the Minister in Brussels shortly before the EU's Council of Agricultural Ministers discussed a call by the Hungarian government for sheep EID to be voluntary rather than compulsory from December 31, 2009.

"I made it clear to the Minister that she should not pull any punches in showing her support for Hungary's proposal," said Mr Jones, of Bala.

"There is now an almost unanimous acceptance across Europe that the technology has serious problems associated with it in terms of implementing the Regulation on farms and in markets and slaughterhouses, yet some Member States are suggesting that making it a legal requirement is a good way of encouraging companies to improve the technology.

"In my mind that is like forcing people to drive cars that have failed their MoTs, and is completely unacceptable when we are talking about animal health and welfare and disease control, not to mention the financial consequences of forcing people to use a costly technology that is not fit for purpose."

"The latest statistics show that sheep numbers in Wales fell by around 10% between 2007 and 2008, while total EU sheep production fell by around 2.5% during the same period.

"For many producers this Regulation is likely to be the final straw, resulting in further reductions in flock sizes, which in turn threatens the viability of the entire supply chain, especially in Wales," Mr Jones added.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed successful negotiations in Brussels by the Welsh Assembly Government to secure a compromise on the regulations regarding fallen stock which could allow on-farm containment prior to disposal.

Chairman of the union's hill farming committee Derek Morgan said: "If the proposal is approved by the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council of Ministers, new Regulations could be in place as early as mid 2010, allowing the possibility of on-farm containment of fallen stock prior to disposal via incineration or rendering.

"While the Union maintains its objections to the burial ban, the compromise negotiated by WAG and Defra marks a significant step back towards a commonsense approach that will go a long way towards meeting farmers' concerns over biosecurity and the costs of the existing system. It is also an environmentally sustainable process."

As well as taking the lead on the negotiations for containment, Wales has also been leading research, partly funded by Hybu Cig Cymru, into possible containment processes.

Scientists from Bangor University outlined a bio-reduction system to members of the European Parliament and the Commission when they visited Brussels on March 17.

If the research proves successful, it is likely that an application will be made to the European Food Safety Authority seeking approval for the bio-reducer as a containment method in the new Regulations.

A coffee morning and a farm visit hosted by the FUW during the recent Fairtrade Fortnight (February 23 - March 8) highlighted the union's joint campaign with the Wales Fair Trade Forum (WFTF) to promote fair prices for food producers in Wales and throughout the developing world.

Last year Wales became the first ever "Fair Trade Nation" and the FUW announced its support for Fair Trade at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in December.

The well-attended coffee morning, organised by the FUW's Anglesey branch, was followed by a visit to the union's Meirionnydd county president Alun Edwards' farm by Bernard Ranaweera, president of Sri Lanka's Small Organic Farmers' Association (SOFA) - an organisation of small-scale farmers who grow organic certified tea, coffee, spices and vegetable crops.

Their smallholdings are mostly on land which was formerly a state-run tea plantation, producing full bodied strong tea, known as mid-grown tea, at altitudes of 2,000 to 4,000 feet. Their production of Fairtrade tea and spices is purchased and marketed by Bio Foods (PVT) Ltd.

"I was delighted to welcome Mr Ranaweera to my farm at Rhydymain, near Dolgellau, and it was fascinating to compare our extremely different types of farming and environment," said Mr Edwards.

"With average temperatures of around 28 degrees C throughout the year, compared to an annual range of 3 to 17 degrees C in Wales, and rainfall nearly four times higher at almost 400mm in the wet season, growing tea, rice and spices in Sri Lanka compares very differently from livestock farming on the northern slopes of Aran Fawddwy.

"While our produce and farming methods are on the one hand extremely different, I was amazed at the similarities between major issues of concern such as water and soil management and at how forward-thinking Sri Lankan farmers are in terms of land management and carbon efficiency.

"Thankfully, we cannot claim that the lot of a Welsh farmer is the same as that of our counterparts in places such as Sri Lanka - farmers for whom necessities such as clean water and basic medical care are luxuries.

"Yet, despite our differences, the principle that a farmer should receive a fair price for his produce transcends international boundaries, and is one that we should all support, whether as individuals or as organisations - and this principle should also extend to procurement by public bodies.

"Obviously, Welsh farmers do not grow tea, coffee and spices and that's one reason why the FUW has linked up with WFTF to support the key message: ''If you can't buy local produce, buy Fair Trade produce''.

"Following this principle recognises ways of supporting small scale producers - whether in underdeveloped countries of the Third World or right here in Wales. The FUW believes Welsh farmers who want a fair price for their lambs in the market should also want a fair price for coffee farmers in other countries."

Ends

CAPTIONS:

COFFEE MORNING: FUW policy director Nick Fenwick (far left) and Anglesey county executive officer Heidi Williams flank Tony McNicholl and Stephen Roe of Anglesey Fairtrade Partnership during the well-attended coffee morning.

View imageThe Farmers' Union of Wales remains strongly opposed too the controversial introduction next year of electronic identification (EID) of sheep, the union's president said today.

"We oppose this legislation and are committed to fighting it until the bitter end," Gareth Vaughan told county delegates during the union's quarterly grand council meeting in Aberystwyth.

He said among the many topics of conversation throughout Wales' rural communities, the subject of sheep EID was top of the agenda. "It is the one subject that is guaranteed to get our blood pressure up.

"And this message was recently made clear by the chairman of the union'' hill farming committee at a recent meeting with top officials from the European Commission and the Joint Research Council.

"However, unlike other farming organisations I do not intend to raise expectations unnecessarily on this issue. Our chances of winning a reprieve grow ever dimmer and, with January 2010 rapidly approaching, we must face up to the possibility that we will not receive the support from other Member States that is needed to reverse the decision.

"The crux of the matter is that we have been successful in persuading the Rural Affairs Minister in Cardiff that this law is impractical, and we have also persuaded Defra Minister Hilary Benn not to support EID.

"But unless Ministers from other EU countries start to recognise these concerns, there is nothing further our own governments can do.

"Nothing short of a massive U-turn by the majority of the EU's 27 Agriculture Ministers will stop this legislation coming in next year, and we therefore need to start thinking about how we will cope if the battle is lost.

"We have already won a two-year delay, and concessions that would make the legislation far less burdensome, and following tough negotiations with the Commission, there may be some more commonsense in the pipeline.

"I therefore say again, that we do not intend to give up our fight - but we will not mislead our members and give them false hope. Burying our heads in the sand, as other organisations are doing, is simply not an option - if we did that we would be failing our members."

Farmers and veterinary professionals are reminded that Bluetongue vaccines should not be used beyond their expiry date.

Intervet have worked with Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate to investigate the possibility of extending the expiry dates on some of the early expiring stocks of vaccine. However, the medicines legislation does not allow for the extensions of shelf lives for products after they have entered the supply chain. This means that extensions are not possible. Livestock keepers should therefore continue to abide by the expiry dates given on the vaccine packaging.

Livestock keepers are reminded that the risk of infection significantly rises with warmer weather, so vaccinating at the earliest opportunity, before the risk of Bluetongue spread increases is paramount. Farmers wishing to order vaccine should speak to their vet as soon as possible.

Details of available vaccines, including usage and cost are given on the Welsh Assembly Government website:

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/ahw/disease/bluetongue/?lang=en