ASSEMBLY Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones will be given a demonstration of the controversial sheep and goats’ electronic identification (EID) technology on Friday, February 13 on a farm at Saron, Llanwnda, near Caernarfon.

Farmers’ Union of Wales member Huw Jones' farm, Pengwern, is one of 14 farms taking part in a joint Hybu Cig Cymru-Welsh Assembly Government pilot trial into the feasibility of introducing EID to the Welsh sheep industry.

"I have been trialing the EID technology for the past 12 months and I am convinced the system is totally unworkable after 20 per cent of my flock lost their tags," said Huw Jones.

"I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the technology to work for me on my farm and I found that although the electronic hand-held reader reads the tags relatively well, using this type of equipment is a lengthy process and is unpractical to say the least.

"The electronic race-reader is much better in theory but in practice I found it very unreliable. I recently brought 150 ewes down from the mountain and put them through the race and the reader only recorded 108 ewes.

"Such unreliability is just not good enough. I have no doubt that the technology is not sufficiently developed to be practical for the average Welsh flock."

Alun Ffred Jones, Arfon’s Plaid Cymru AM, said: "I’m aware of the concerns regarding the EID tagging scheme and that many see it as unnecessary and expensive bureaucracy. I look forward to discussing the matter and listening to suggestions from people within the industry who will have to deal with the repercussions of the scheme’s implementation."

The visit, arranged by FUW’s Caernarfon county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin, will give the Minister the opportunity to see the technology at work at first hand.

Mr Watkin said: "The policy of EID for sheep has not been thought through properly and could ruin the financial viability of the industry.

"The technology used for EID is temperamental to say the least, even the slightest hitch with the technology could bring a livestock market or abattoir to a standstill, with major financial consequences for all concerned.

"I have invited John Lloyd Williams of Bryncir Agricultural Auction Centre and Gren Jones of Conwy Valley Meats to be present at the meeting so that the Minister can hear the concerns from all aspects of the industry."

The Welsh farming industry’s objections to the compulsory electronic identification (EID) of sheep were today made clear to the European Commission by Farmers’ Union of Wales hill farming committee chairman Derek Morgan.

Mr Morgan’s comments were made during a meeting with EC officials in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, organised by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Speaking after the meeting, the Llangurig sheep farmer said: "Unlike most farmers I have first hand experience of EID, having used it on a small proportion of my Welsh Mountain sheep for the past six years.

"In my six years experience, I have found that the technology is not sufficiently developed to be practical for the average Welsh flock and, 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."

Mr Morgan also emphasised the particular problems that the Regulation would bring for Welsh businesses, 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.

"This means that Wales, out of necessity, has a particularly high number of movements which, in turn, means that we will have to invest more heavily in the technology than in other countries."

Throughout today the Commission heard a range of concerns regarding the impact of the technology on the entire sheep industry during meetings with farmers, abattoirs and livestock auctioneers.

"There are serious concerns regarding the impact that compulsory EID will have for the entire supply chain," added Mr Morgan. "Even the slightest hitch with the technology could bring a livestock market or abattoir to a standstill, with major financial consequences for all concerned.

"As upland farmers, we are particularly reliant on the market system in terms of selling animals to finishers from the lowlands and I am extremely concerned that the cost of implementing the Regulation in markets is likely to be passed on to farmers or result in market closures.

"Market closures would increase the control that the supermarkets have over the supply chain, and that would be extremely bad news for the industry."

Farmers’ Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan today commended the decision by Pembrokeshire auctioneers J J Morris to cancel a Red Market sale at Whitland.

Mr Vaughan also called on farmers and auctioneers to stand firm against aggressive moves by processors and supermarkets to pass their overheads on to farmers via the auction markets.

The Whitland sale was due to have been held today, and would have involved the sale of some 120 cattle from farms under TB restrictions.

"The cancellation of Wednesday's Red Market at Whitland comes as a huge blow to Welsh farms that are under TB restrictions and had animals booked in to the sale" said Mr Vaughan.

"These businesses need to move animals off their holdings as soon as possible in order to alleviate the huge pressures that accompany TB movement restrictions, and the decision will add significantly to the problems in the area, and could even affect the Welsh Assembly's TB control programme," said Mr Vaughan.

"However, the industry should not give in to this kind of intimidation by supermarkets and abattoirs, and I commend the stance taken by the livestock auctions.

"Moves by abattoirs and supermarkets to levy farmers, whether via the livestock markets or otherwise, should be resisted. If we bow to this it could be the thin edge of the wedge.

"At what point will the auctioneers then be asked to deduct fixed charges to cover water and electricity bills, or other abattoir or supermarket overheads?

"The bottom line is that this is a public health issue, and should either be picked up by government or passed down the chain to supermarkets and other customers."

Mr Vaughan added that he was deeply suspicious about the apparently coordinated way in which the livestock auctioneers had been asked to levy farmers.

"The way in which some appear to have stood together on this issue smacks of collusion. Companies that work together in order to manipulate the market place risk falling foul of the law, and we shall pass on any evidence of such practices to the Office of Fair Trading."

"It is disgraceful that the supermarkets and abattoirs may make the TB situation worse due to tactics that are effectively designed to drive farmgate prices down."

WELSH Black Cattle Society president Richard Hughes has won the FUW Anglesey branch's "Gwobr Garreg Fawr" for his contribution to agriculture and Brian and Ffiona Thomas from Beef Direct have won the "Dyfeisgarwch award" for ingenuity or initiative.

Mr Hughes of Glan Rafon, Bodorgan, has never travelled more in Wales than during his first half year in office. His Rafon herd of pedigree Welsh Blackcattle was established in 1967.

He has met society members at six of the leading summer shows - Aberystwyth, Anglesey, Flint & Denbigh, Pembrokeshire, Llanrwst and the Royal Welsh Show.

Farm visits to members, organised by the North Wales Breeders Club, included a modern dairy complex with the Plumbley family at Calveley green Farm, Cheshire, and to Peter and Yvonne Brown's Chastleton Hill Farm, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucester.

Both farm visits were to progressive Welsh Black breeders and were well received by hosts and visitors who believe in good public relations and communication between society officials and members.

The president also joined the South Wales Breeders Club at their annual farm visit hosted by the Williams family at Tyddyn Bach, Llanfachreth in Merionethshire.

Mr Williams, whose Machreth Herd was established in 1956, has in recent years seen many cattle registered from the home-bred bull, Machreth Cai 7th.

During the autumn Mr Hughes joined 100 members at the South Wales Breeders Club dinner at the Plough Inn, Rhosmaen, Llandeilo. Within a week both Mr and Mrs Hughes had met the patron, the Prince of Wales, and presented him with a china Welsh Black Bull to celebrate his 60th birthday.

Mr Hughes, who now has nine breeding cows, is a regular exhibitor at Anglesey Show and won breed champion on many occasions. He also purchases store cattle at Dolgellau to fatten in the spring and sell in the autumn direct to the abattoir.

During the Winter Fatstock Fairs Mr Hughes was delighted to witness the success of one of his own home bred steers Rafon Keith 3rd winning awards the length and breadth of the country.

Rafon Keith 3rd, exhibited by Robin Roberts, Anglesey, won the champion native steer at the Royal Highland Show and was in the best group of three pure beef breed animals at the Royal Smithfield Show held in the Bath & West Showground, Somerset.

Mr Hughes is the fourth generation of his family to farm at Glan Rafon and the third generation to be members of the Welsh Black Cattle Society.

The idea for Beef Direct was born in 1998 as Brian and Ffiona Thomas were fed up with having no control over their prices which at that time were below the cost of production for beef and lamb.

They felt that the supermarkets were paying farmers as little as possible and charging the housewife as much as possible. Logically, therefore, there was a reasonable margin to be had from direct selling.

In August 2000, after doing their research, Beef Direct was launched at the Anglesey Show. The idea was that as farmers' markets were just starting up in England they would go there to sell their Welsh Black Beef and lamb.

Initially, they worked with their local butcher and his son. Foot and Mouth shut the business down for four months in 2001. After this it was decided to upgrade the old stables which was adapted to a licensed working butchery and employ a full time butcher.

Both Brian and Ffiona attended a number of food-related courses to gain the necessary qualifications. Their aim from the start has been to produce the best quality meat possible from their herd of pure Welsh Black Cattle and lamb relying largely on the clover rich Anglesey pastures to enhance the flavour.

The business has expanded every year and at present three full-time employees work in the butchery. Demand for Welsh Black Beef is on the increase and with the advent of DNA testing it is envisaged that there will be a greatly increased demand for their pure Welsh Black Beef from the catering industry as well as the public.

They are looking to expand their premises in the near future and hopefully create more employment. The first recognition of Beef Direct's excellence was when they were invited to become one of Rick Stein's Food Heroes in the early stages of their meat business.

Other accolades have since followed- Great Taste Awards three gold stars for their Welsh Lamb 2008, Great Taste Awards one gold star for their beef 2008, Great Taste Awards reserve best speciality food from Wales 2008.

They have also won prizes at the Oyster Festival for their sausages. At New Ferry Farmers' Market, which won Radio 4 UK's Best Farmers' Market 2007, Beef Direct have won several awards including the overall best producer and runner-up in the Customer Service Award which recognised their excellent produce by customers who buy their meat on a monthly basis.

On being told that they were to receive the FUW Award for Ingenuity they commented: "The award given by the Anglesey branch of the FUW to us is very important and greatly appreciated as it is the first award we have received from fellow farmers. We are absolutely delighted to be receiving this award."

The awards were presented at the branch's annual dinner on January 30.