American entrepreneur Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple, once said that “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. Recognising the importance of innovation in the agricultural industry, the Farmers’ Union of Wales is hosting a special seminar at the Royal Welsh Show.

The innovation seminar, which is held on Tuesday, July 23, at 2pm at the FUW Pavilion, will focus on how farmers can embrace innovation in many different ways, and stay ahead of their competitors as Brexit looms .

Those attending the seminar can look forward to hearing from  Geraint Hughes, of Madryn Foods, who leads on Business and Innovation in the Farming Connect’s Agri-Academy scheme, whose forum include Welsh farmers looking at technologies such as Genomics, Smart farming, Virtual reality, Social Media and Vertical farming.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is looking forward to an exciting seminar at the Royal Welsh Show, exploring what being authentic really means, how to overcome self-doubt and having the courage to develop a business that reflects who you are.

The seminar, which is being held on Wednesday, July 25 at 2pm at the FUW Pavilion, will be delivered by Helen Howells of Hwylus.

Helen is fascinated by people and places and loves to pick apart at the mechanics of things and understand how they truly work. With a keen interest into the working of the mind, and the working of the land, she’s spent most of her career developing holistic opportunities to improve rural communities.

By founding Hwylus, she brings to the forefront her background in Sustainability, Visitor Experience and Heritage to inspire rural business.  

Speaking ahead of the event, Helen said: “Being authentic in leadership and business is about developing your personal brand, one with real soul. Having the confidence to live your values and feel the intensity of the passion for what you do. So come along to explore how you can instil the values of authentic leadership into your business, feel confident bringing more of yourself to your work, and reap the benefits.”

The seminar is open to all and free to attend.

 

The Wales Land Management Forum (WLMF) established a sub-group in January 2017 in order to focus on tackling agricultural pollution. The membership of the group comprises NFU Cymru, Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW), Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Dwr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW), the Tenant Farmers Association Cymru (TFA), Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), AHDB Dairy, the Carmarthenshire Fishermen’s Federation (CFF), Natural Resources Wales and the Welsh Government. 

In April 2018, the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs was given a progress report on the work of the WLMF sub-group. 

All those involved have worked collaboratively to help shape the initial recommendations that have been sent to the Cabinet Secretary and are optimistic that they will provide a framework to improve water quality in Welsh rivers in the long-term. 

There is no one silver bullet to solve this problem – the solution is a combination of different changes all of which need to be supported by new ways of thinking. The main areas are:

• A robust regulatory regime
• Developing a voluntary, farmer-led approach to nutrient management
• Ensuring better advice and guidance is provided and can be taken up by farmers
• Improving the range of investment opportunities
• Identifying and promoting innovation 

The WLMF sub-group continues to work  at pace to deliver the recommendations in the report.

Download the report: Tackling Agricultural Pollution

Brexit and its implications for agriculture will continue to be the hot topic at this year’s Royal Welsh Show. With this in mind, the FUW is hosting its ‘Brexit: What does the future hold for agriculture ?’ seminar, which will start at 2pm on Monday July 23 at the FUW’s pavilion.

The event promises to be a thought-stimulating seminar as keynote speakers FUW Head of Policy Dr Nick Fenwick, Farmers Guardian Chief Reporter Abi Kay and Dr Jo Hunt, Reader in Law at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics will be exploring different aspects of Brexit and the future of our industry, including aspects of regionalism and devolution in the context of the European Union.