.jpg)
Denbighshire beef and sheep farmer Rheinallt Hughes, has been appointed as the new chairman of the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ Hill Farming and Marginal Land Committee.
Rheinallt, together with his family, farms approximately 980 acres at Tu Hwnt i’r Afon, Llanarmon DC, Croesoswallt, of which 240 acres are owned and 720 acres rented. 400 acres are in SSSI (moorland) and they are in Glastir and Glastir Advanced.
The family have a flock of 300 Welsh Mule Ewes which are put to Beltex and Texel rams and also have a flock of 1300 Welsh Mountain Ewes, of which 600 are put to Welsh Mountain rams to breed replacements and 700 to Bluefaced Leicester rams to breed mule replacements.
They keep 250 Welsh ewe lamb replacements and 50 Mule ewe lamb replacements. The farm is also home to a herd of 20 suckler cows with British Blue calves at foot and a Limousin bull.
Speaking about his appointment Rheinallt Hughes said: “I am delighted to head up this important committee and thank the previous chair Ian Rickman for all of his hard work.
“The coming year will inevitably be dominated by the particular threat to hill farms some post-Brexit scenarios represent, especially for our sheep industry.
“However, we also face many other problems, such as the impact of low light lamb prices and the ongoing discrimination caused by the FSA refusal to allow alternatives to the splitting of lambs with teeth up - despite alternatives being allowed on the continent.”