[caption id="attachment_5720" align="aligncenter" width="169"] Rhydian Owen.[/caption]

The recent announcement by Defra on how £26.2 million pounds of EU aid will be distributed throughout the UK has been labelled ‘disappointing and frustrating’ by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

According to Defra, dairy producers in Wales will receive some £3.2 million of the total allocated to the UK, with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland receiving £15.5, £5.1 and £2.3 respectively. The Welsh Government has already confirmed that payments will be based upon how much milk a farmer produced in the 2014-15 production year.

Newly elected FUW milk and dairy produce chairman Rhydian Owen, said:  “The aid is aimed at helping alleviate the current cash flow problems experienced by dairy farmers and to recognise the prolonged period  of low and below cost of production farm-gate prices received by this sector.

“Whilst this support is welcomed, the distribution of available funds throughout the UK should have been targeted towards those producers and regions hit worst by the dairy crisis.

“The farm-gate price of milk received by many Welsh dairy producers is far lower than in other regions of the UK mainland, and a distribution which took account of the disparity in milk price would have seen help going where it is most needed,” added Mr Owen.

Despite Northern Ireland receiving a ‘boosted allocation’ to reflect their the lower prices, this principle was apparently not extended to the UK mainland.

According to Scottish rural affairs minister Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Government were not consulted on the allocations between devolved administration, raising concerns that the English administration announced the Welsh allocation with little or no consultation with Welsh Government, or consideration of the additional pressures on Welsh producers.

“More detailed discussions should have been held on how the aid package was to be targeted to help those who need it most,” said Mr Owen.

“In other words, many Welsh dairy producers will now be wondering whether they have been ripped off following the English announcement. Nevertheless, it is now imperative that this one-off aid payment is distributed swiftly and with as little bureaucracy as possible.”

The union says the one-off aid payment – averaging around £1,800 per Welsh dairy farm – should be recognised as a package of limited short-term relief after a period of sustained low process, rather than a move which will address the ongoing impact of low farm-gate milk prices.

“The FUW remains dedicated to working with industry, processors and retailers to identify those measures which will aid in more fair and transparent contracts, management of EU over supply and ultimately a stronger position in the marketplace for producers,” added Mr Owen.

The Meirionnydd branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales has organised a farm visit to take place on Monday September 28 at Castell Hen, Parc near Bala, to discuss renewable energy schemes, Glastir and a variety of other agricultural policies.

In conjunction with FWAG Cymru, Dolgellau - FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Euros Puw and his wife Haf are opening the gates to their farm at 11am for visitors to see the land, stock and the hydroelectric scheme which serves the electricity requirements of the farm.

FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones said: “We look forward to welcoming our president Glyn Roberts, FWAG Cymru chairman Tegwyn Jones and Alun Fred Jones AM, who chairs the Environment and Sustainability committee at the Welsh Assembly, to the farm and hope that many of our members and friends of the union can join us.

“This is an ideal opportunity for visitors to discuss the latest agricultural policies and see how the family at Castell Hen are pioneers in renewable energy. There has been a hydro scheme at the farm since 1937 to produce electricity for their own use. The scheme was updated in 2003 and they are also currently in the process of setting up a new separate hydro scheme.”

Castell Hen is situated at approx. 2 miles from the village of Parc near Bala and the family farm extends to 740 acres, together with grazing rights on nearby common land.

The majority is mountain land with approx. 25 acres kept annually for silage making, 60 acres improved grazing land, and 100 acres of semi improved ‘ffridd’.

High quality stock are kept, which includes 650 Welsh mountain ewes, 240 of which are crossed with Texel rams every year, with the remainder purebred. There is also a herd of 19 Limousin cows. Calves are sold as store between 17-23 months at the livestock market in Dolgellau.

“Castell Hen has been able to take advantage of agri-environment schemes over the years, and the family see farming and conservation going hand in hand. The farm was part of the Tir Cymen Scheme when Meirionnydd was chosen as a pilot area in the 1990’s, and thereafter the farm was part of the Tir Gofal Scheme until joining Glastir Scheme in 2014,” added Mr Jones.

The farm has also been fortunate in being chosen for the Glastir Advanced Scheme which is run concurrent with Glastir Entry since January 2014.

The farm Castell Hen, or ‘Styllen’ as it is known locally has been farmed by Euros’ family since 1790, and he and his family have lived there since 2001 when he took over the business from his parents.

Mr Puw left the Welsh Agricultural College at Aberystwyth in 1986 to come home to farm. He is married to Haf, and they have 3 children; Gweno 22, Owain 20, and Ceredig 16. Gweno works with Farming Connect in Aberystwyth; Owain is studying agriculture at Aberystwyth University, and is presently visiting New Zealand as part of his agricultural course in Aberystwyth; and Ceredig has just completed his GCSE’s recently and will soon start a furniture renovation course at Aberteifi College. Mrs Puw works part time at Ysgol y Berwyn, y Bala as a personal assistant, which includes 6th form activities.

Mr Puw carries out a great deal of agriculture contracting work within his local area such as harvesting, big bale wrapping, fertiliser spreading etc to supplement the farm income. He relies heavily on members of his family in this venture which includes his brother Iolo who is a carpenter living locally.

“On behalf of the FUW and FWAG Cymru – I would like to extend a warm welcome to those interested in learning more about renewable energy and seeing the Glastir scheme in action. There will be light refreshments available, kindly sponsored by Birch Farm Plastics, and FWAG and we look forward to what promises to be a most informative and enjoyable day,” added Mr Jones.

News that crime in rural parts of England and Wales cost more than £800m last year, according to a survey the National Rural Crime Network (NRCN), should be a wake-up call to all parties including those responsible for law and order according to the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

“We have been working hard with police forces across Wales to highlight the devastating effect of rural crime and the importance of having a dedicated rural crime team for many years,” said FUW president Glyn Roberts.

“The ever changing landscape of rural crime is a growing concern, especially if we think of the amount that goes unreported and we strongly believe that a better joint working approach is needed to address these issues.”

The NRCN poll found the average cost to victims was £2,500 for rural households and £4,000 for businesses, with crimes including theft of tractors and livestock costing 21 times more than previously estimated.

“Many people still don’t report thefts and other crime to the police and the survey suggested that 27 percent of crimes were not reported in rural areas, which makes it difficult to spread the word to other farm holdings.

“Even if it is just a small amount of red-diesel having been stolen - it must be reported to the police.

“We as a union urge our members to make sure that they are reporting suspicious activity to the police and also enrol in schemes such as neighbourhood watch, Farm Watch or OWL and the Gate Safe Scheme,” added Mr Roberts.

[caption id="attachment_5687" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) FUW president Glyn Roberts, 2 Sisters Food Group industry development manager Peter Morris, Dunbia’s senior livestock buyer Wyn Williams and FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams.[/caption]

A Farmers’ Union of Wales meeting between farmers and two of Wales’ major meat processors regarding the fall in lamb prices has highlighted the need for a fairer red meat levy distribution system as well as numerous other frustrations.

During the meeting held at Welshpool mart on Tuesday (September 15), Dunbia’s senior livestock buyer Wyn Williams and 2 Sisters Food Group industry development manager Peter Morris spoke about the range of factors which had led to a severe fall in lamb prices over recent months.

“Farmers were then given the opportunity to question the speakers and raise numerous concerns,” said FUW Montgomery county chairman Mark Williams, who chaired the meeting.

“One key frustration was the fact that the ability to market Welsh lamb in order to benefit farmers is severely reduced because of the unfair way in which a large proportion of Welsh farmers levy payments go over the border to England.”

Under the current system levies collected from farmers and processors in countries in which animals are slaughtered are made to those countries’ meat promotion bodies - HCC in Wales; Quality Meat Scotland in Scotland; and the English Beef and Lamb Executive and British Pig Executive in England.

“This means that Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales’ levy funding does not come close to reflecting the number of animals born and raised in Wales,” said Mr WIlliams.

It is estimated that the closure of the Vion plant at Gaerwen in 2013 led to a drop of around £500,000 in HCC’s red meat levy funding, while the closure of a pork processing facility in Scotland in 2012 had a similarly detrimental impact on Quality Meat Scotland.

“Marketing Welsh produce is critical to farmgate prices and farm incomes, and there was huge anger at the way in which levy money paid on Welsh animals is being taken away from us.”

Mr Williams said there were a host of other concerns, and real anger regarding the presence of New Zealand lamb on supermarket shelves, particularly over the summer, and the policies of some of the major retailers.

“It was acknowledged that there are a host of issues which undermine lamb prices which we cannot influence, such as the Sterling-Euro exchange rate, but that more work was needed in those areas where changes were possible, including product development and addressing the imbalance in terms of demand for different cuts.”

Widespread frustration was expressed regarding the slow progress being made in terms of getting Welsh produce into the US market, with farmers calling for a more proactive approach as seen in the Republic of Ireland.

Speaking after the meeting, FUW president Glyn Roberts said the concerns raised reflected longstanding campaigns and ongoing lobbying by the FUW.

“We have been lobbying for fairer levy distribution for a decade and I sincerely hope there is now light at the end of the tunnel.

“We also need to see changes to the regulations on carcass splitting which is scientifically unjustified and severely undermines the prices we receive.

“Alongside such moves, it is imperative that the Rural Development Programme is directed towards making farms more efficient and profitable at a time when farm incomes have fallen to their lowest for over a decade and the wider rural economy is beginning to suffer as a result.”