[caption id="attachment_6094" align="alignleft" width="300"] Let us take the stress out of form filling for you![/caption]

It’s that time of year again when we start thinking about SAF forms. With just a few weeks to go until the application window opens, we want to remind you that we are here to help. So let us take the stress of filling the form away from you and give us a call to book your appointment.

The FUW provides this free service exclusively to all members, which has proved invaluable for thousands of members over the years - saving them time and a paperwork-headache. In fact, our recent membership survey revealed that it’s the most valued service we provide you with!

[caption id="attachment_6117" align="alignright" width="300"] "Our staff are not only well trained but very well practiced in dealing with the complex application process"[/caption]

FUW Managing Director Alan Davies said: “Our staff are not only well trained but very well practiced in dealing with the complex application process.The SAF completion process is probably the single most important form completion exercise being carried out by Welsh farmers since 2004, and the financial repercussions of errors on the forms are severe.”

Since the Welsh Government mandated that all applications should be done online, the FUW is  focused on providing the best possible service to its members and we would love to hear from you in the county office.

“I encourage our members and first time form fillers to contact their local office as soon as possible to book an appointment if they need help in filling out the form. Appointments can be made from the start of March as soon as the application process is open,” added Alan Davies.

Farmers in Wales need to be aware that there have been some changes to the 2017 Cross-Compliance rules. The vast majority of Cross-Compliance rules continue to apply as notified in 2016, but there have been some changes to the following Factsheets, which have been updated by Welsh Government:

• GAEC 3: Water- Groundwater
• GAEC 6: Soil and Organic Matter – Maintenance
• GAEC 7: Maintenance of Landscape Features
• SMR 2: Wild Birds
• SMR 8: Sheep and goat identification
• SMR 10: Restrictions on the use of Plant Protection Products
• SMR 11: Welfare Standards for the Protection of Calves
• SMR 12: Welfare Standards for the Protection of Pigs
• SMR 13: Welfare Standards for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes.

FUW Pembrokeshire County Executive Officer Rebecca Voyle said:

“The majority of the revised factsheets have had fairly minor, but important, word changes to them to help clarify the rules. However SMR 11 and SMR 12 have undergone more significant changes and additional requirements have been added.

“It is important that farmers familiarise themselves with these changes as a breach of the rules could lead to penalties against their 2017 BPS payment.”

So what does it mean for cattle farmers? The new main requirement states that:

• calves must receive at least two liquid feeds per day to gain sufficient nutrition and only when solid feed can be properly digested should it be considered a ‘feed’.

In addition, roughage should be provided from two weeks of age.

The new additions to good practice requirements state that:

• Milk from cows tested and found to be bTB reactors, or inconclusive, should not be fed to calves and may only be fed to animals on the same farm after suitable heat treatment.
• If calves are reared in a system where milk is provided by artificial means, their feed intake should be closely monitored and sick or injured calves must be isolated in suitable accommodation, where appropriate, with dry comfortable bedding.

Pig farmers will have to take note of the rule changes under SMR 12, which apply to all pig keepers, in addition to the requirements for the welfare of all farmed animals (SMR 13).

The new addition to the main requirements now says that:

• where a farrowing crate system is used, piglets must be provided with a source of heat and a solid, dry and comfortable lying area away from the sow where all of them can rest at the same time.
• A part of the floor area where the piglets are kept and which is large enough to allow the animals to rest together at the same time must be solid or covered with a mat, or be littered with straw or other suitable material.

Completely new to the SMR 12 is the Good Practice section, which asks farmers to ensure that:

• tail-docking is not carried out routinely but only where there is evidence that injury to sows’ teats or to other pigs’ ears or tails have occurred.
• Before carrying out tail-docking other measures should be taken to prevent tail-biting and other vices, taking into account environment and stocking densities.
• For that reason, inadequate environmental conditions or management systems are to be changed and it is recommended that best practice is aimed at reducing the need for tail-docking and optimise solutions for providing enrichment materials.

Copies of the revised Cross-Compliance factsheets will not be sent to BPS claimants by RPW but can be accessed in full via the Welsh Government website.

[caption id="attachment_7659" align="alignleft" width="300"] (l-r) Tom Jones, Prysor Williams, FUW Meirionnydd County President Tegwyn Jones, Huw Tudor[/caption]

Farmers in Meirionnydd recently came together to explore what the future for farming could look like once the UK has made an exit from the European Union, when they joined their local Farmers’ Union of Wales branch at the Annual General Meeting in Dolgellau.

Providing food for thought on the night were panel speakers Mr Tom Jones, a past FUW Vice President who represents Wales on the European Social and Economic Committee in Brussels, and a Non-Executive Director at the Wales Office, Dr Prysor Williams, a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Management at Bangor University and Huw Tudor, Regional Agricultural Manager with HSBC.

FUW Meirionnydd County Executive Officer Huw Jones said: “With speculation of what Brexit might mean in terms of timescales, trade deals, and legislation changing on a daily basis, the industry is facing a level of uncertainty and risk not seen for generations.

“This is undoubtedly the biggest issue to affect farming in the near future and it is no overstatement to say that the farming industry and our rural economies are facing the biggest challenge since the Second World War. I would like to thank our panelist for sharing their thoughts with us on the night, which I am sure will inspire many more conversations in future.”

The Pumpkin Patch is a popular gardening and cookery school in Carmarthenshire and the FUW held one of its many breakfasts there recently.  Lisa Fearn established The Pumpkin Patch and by now, she has taught thousands of children to grow and cook their own food (she's taught a few parents too!).  Lisa is a Carmarthen girl and a mother of five and has recently published her first recipe book, Blas/Taste.  It contains over 90 delicious family-friendly recipes and is presented bilingually.  With Shrove Tuesday fast approaching, why not try one of Lisa’s recipes:

Combine a cup of plain flour with a cup of milk and an egg.

Whisk well and pour into a hot oiled or buttered pan.

Fry on both sides, flip them if you dare, and enjoy with your favourite topping.  Eat them with sugar, lemon, Nutella, or wrap a banana in one.

Fold them the French way or roll them the Welsh way.

For a simple but filling and delicious supper, serve them with bacon, mushrooms, fried with a little garlic and cream, grated cheese and tomato, or even smoked salmon and a soft herby cream cheese.  Enjoy!

Blas/Taste by Lisa Fearn.  Available for £14.99 from your local book shop or online www.gomer.co.uk