The poignant manner in which TV farming programme presenter Adam Henson reported on bovine TB testing on his Cotswold farm was one of the reasons why he has been chosen as the first winner of the Farmers' Union of Wales Bob Davies Memorial Award.
In a recent episode of BBC ONE's popular Sunday evening Countryfile programme, Adam could barely disguise his emotions after losing one of the two splendid Longhorn steers he spent months training to work as draft oxen.
The award - in memory of Farmers Weekly Wales correspondent Bob Davies, of Welshpool, who died last November, aged 69 - is offered to a media personality who has raised the public profile of Welsh farming.
Adam has delivered thousands of lambs on his 1,625-acre farm in the Cotswolds. As well as managing more than 1,000 sheep, his farm also includes the Cotswold Farm Park, which has more than 50 flocks and herds of rare-breed farm animals including 198 pigs, 14 Highland cattle and 15 different breeds of sheep.
His passion for rare breeds was passed down from his father and, since 2001, Adam has been a regular presenter on Countryfile, reporting on his own fortunes in the regular feature Adam's Farm.
He has also reported live from Jim and Kate Beavans' sheep farm near Abergavenny for BBC TWO's recent BBC Lambing Live series. The Beavans are a sheep-farming dynasty in the foothills of the Brecon Beacon where they run two farms as one business.
Lambing Live reported live from the main farm where Jim is responsible for the day-to-day running and he and Kate took on the lion's share of training Adam's co-presenter Kate Humble how to deliver lambs.
Adam was unavailable to receive his award from FUW president Gareth Vaughan at a reception during the Royal Welsh Show this evening (Wednesday July 21 at 6.30pm) due to a busy filming schedule for Countryfile.
However, in true Hollywood Oscars style, a DVD clip of his acceptance speech was played to guests at Mr Vaughan's reception and the Beavans accepted the award - a shepherd's crook made by Hywel Evans of Capel Dewi, near Aberystwyth - on his behalf.
"Adam Henson fully deserves to receive this inaugural award because he has clearly met the criteria of raising the public profile of Welsh farming through his programmes which are watched by a huge audience throughout the UK," said Mr Vaughan.
The Bob Davies Award recognises the major contribution made to agricultural journalism in Wales including 44 years as the Farmers Weekly's accomplished Wales correspondent. His widow Jennifer and daughter Emma attended the presentation ceremony.
The chairman of Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), Montgomeryshire beef and sheep farmer Rees Roberts, was this evening (Wednesday July 21 at 6.30pm) presented with the Farmers' Union of Wales gold medal for services to Welsh agriculture.
Mr Roberts, who has held a number of senior positions in the British agricultural industry over many years, received the medal from FUW president Gareth Vaughan during the Royal Welsh Show.
He was the Commissioner for Wales on the Meat and Livestock Commission from 1998 until taking over as the inaugural chairman of HCC when it was formed in April 2003. Prior to this he was also chairman of Welsh Lamb and Beef Producers Ltd.
Over the years he has served on a number of public bodies, including the Welsh Assembly Government's Strategic Food and Drink Advisory Group and the Agri?Food Partnership Lamb and Beef Strategy Group.
He is a member of the Lord Chancellor's advisory committee for JPs and of Dolen Ffermio, a charity that promotes links between Wales and Uganda.
In 2004 he became a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and in 2006 he was voted the Food Personality of the Year by Food and Industry magazine.
A Nuffield scholar, he has also served as a member of the Hill Farming Advisory Sub?Committee for Wales, a governor of Llysfasi College and, earlier in his career, as chairman of the FUW's hill farming committee.
Mr Roberts is aged 59 and was awarded the OBE in 2002 for services to agriculture. Married to Sally, the couple have two daughters - Bethan and Ceri - and live at Efailwag Farm, Llanrhaeadr?ym?Mochnant, Oswestry.
The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed a National Assembly report calling for the Assembly Government to support a strong Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which protects farm incomes and food production.
FUW president Gareth Vaughan said "The report makes a large number of robust recommendations which are in line with the evidence submitted by the union.
"I welcome the fact that the committee recognises the CAP as a framework which should continue to support our rural communities while ensuring the key challenges of our age are addressed, in particular food security."
The report makes 18 recommendations and calls on the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) to lobby Europe to maintain the current CAP budget while keeping food security and the provision of public goods as its core objectives.
"The committee also agreed with the union's view that support in less favoured areas should be maintained and incorporated in Pillar 1 of the CAP.
"We have expressed significant concerns over the past year regarding WAG's apparent lack of direction regarding the CAP and have called for the CAP stakeholder group to be reconvened.
"We therefore fully endorse the committee's view that the stakeholder group should be re-established in order to inform WAG on a policy which is of critical importance to Wales's economy.
"The government should now regard these recommendations as a guiding light based as it is upon the significant evidence submitted by the FUW and other stakeholders.
"We have demonstrated the importance of the CAP to Wales's economy and Europe's future food and environmental security, and the committee has agreed that our government should be fully engaged both with grass root organisations and with Brussels in order to argue for what is best for Wales, Europe, and every EU citizen."
New planning guidance revealed today by the Assembly's Environment Minister will greatly help sustain rural communities in Wales, according to the Farmers' Union of Wales.
Welcoming Jane Davidson's announcement at the Royal Welsh Show, FUW's land use committee chairman Richard Vaughan said it was in line with measures the union had been demanding for many years.
"We believe that the Minister's new Technical Advice Note 6 (TAN 6) - Planning for Sustainable Rural Communities - will help farmers diversify and encourage the retention of young people in the countryside.
"Her decision to extend the scope of the existing agriculture and forestry dwelling category will greatly assist farmers involved with diversification projects.
"One of her other major change - accepting second dwellings on established farms where there is a need for a part-time worker - is really good news for farms which also have a diversified business.
"And the principle of allowing second dwellings on farms when it facilitates the handover of the management of the farm business to younger farmers is a particularly pleasing step forward. "
During the launch the Minister underlined the need for consistency across Wales in dealing with rural planning applications.
"We hope that local planning authorities will accept the spirit of these guidelines aimed at improving the long-term viability of agriculture and the wider rural economy," added Mr Vaughan
A paper published by the Farmers' Union of Wales today (Monday July 19) suggests badger culling in north Pembrokeshire could reduce bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) incidences by around a third - and this could even be a significant underestimate.
The paper, prepared by the union's agricultural policy director Dr Nicholas Fenwick, uses computer modelling and the results of previous scientific studies to predict the outcome of badger culling in a number of areas.
It suggests that a badger cull in north Pembrokeshire could reduce bTB herd incidences by 30% during a five-year cull, and by 32% in a three-and-a-half-year period following culling.
FUW's bTB spokesman, Carmarthen dairy farmer Brian Walters, said: "There is only one approach which has been shown scientifically to reduce bTB incidences in hotspot areas where bTB is endemic in badgers, and that is culling.
"This paper builds upon the modelling work done by the Independent Science Group in 2007 and looks at what would happen in a range of different situations if the results of the English badger culling trials were replicated in other areas."
The work also highlights the fact that legislation to minimise the types of problems experienced during the English trials, such as obstruction and interference with trapping, is likely to add significantly to the positive effects seen in England.
"We know that the chances of a confirmed bTB case in cattle herds fell by between 62% and 95% in the Irish badger culling trials and we would expect a well planned cull in north Pembrokeshire, coupled with legislation to discourage interference and obstruction, to achieve results closer to those figures rather the English ones," said Mr Walters.
The paper also predicts falls in numbers of individual bTB cattle reactors in north Pembrokeshire of 15% during the culling period and 28% in a three-year period after culling, based upon the English culling trial results.
"This work shows that, even if the problems experienced during the English culls do occur, a cull could prevent around 90 herd outbreaks over an eight-and-a-half-year period, which would represent a massive reduction," added Mr Walters.
"We have already provided the Welsh Assembly Government with this evidence which we believe shows that badger culling can substantially reduce bTB in north Pembrokeshire.
"Following the Court of Appeal's recent judgement against the TB Order, we have urged the Welsh Assembly Government to do all it can to put new legislation in place to allow a cull to go ahead.
"The evidence on badger culling from the Irish and English trials is conclusive: it works, and can lead to significant reductions in bTB. The farming community in north Pembrokeshire deserves to see matters progressing towards a cull as soon as possible.
"Without decisive, science-based action we will not see the outcome we all want, which is cattle and badgers free of disease. This paper adds to the already large base of scientific evidence which shows that the Welsh Assembly Government is right to pursue a badger cull to help eradicate bTB."
