It will be cool to be seen on the Farmers' Union of Wales stand during the Swansea and District Urdd National Eisteddfod next week (May 30-June 4).

The union will be promoting the work of school milk suppliers "Cool Milk" who recently teamed up with Mudiad Ysgolion Meithrin to launch a free milk scheme to get more children drinking milk in cylchoedd meithrin (Welsh-medium playgroups) and nurseries across Wales.

FUW staff on the stand will also be giving away cartons of milk for youngsters to sample plus copies of Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales' "Cool2Cook2" bilingual booklet which includes carefully constructed and perfectly balanced recipes to ensure kids across Wales will be desperate to dice, frantic to fry and raring to roast!

FUW president Gareth Vaughan said: "All children under the age of five are entitled to 189ml of milk (third of a pint) at school, play group or nursery but implementing the Cool Milk/MYM scheme has historically come at a large cost to the schools and nurseries themselves.

"School staff have to complete the administration but nurseries also have to fund the children's milk whilst waiting for reimbursement.

"The scheme removes this obligation, as the milk will be fully funded on the cylch meithrin and nursery's behalf meaning they will no longer have to complete administration or claim paperwork.

"It is important for children to drink milk. Health advisers tell us everyone should try to consume at least three portions of dairy a day.

"School milk is ideal for children because it offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to build strong healthy teeth and bones, as well as providing a vital boost of nearly every nutrient essential to their development."

Mr Vaughan said the union was also pleased to highlight the work of HCC by promoting its cookbook. "Research carried out by HCC revealed that many teachers are faced with difficult decisions when it comes to teaching about food.

"Teachers have said that there is often not enough time in the curriculum, or a lack of resources to do the subject justice. That's why HCC produced the original Cool2Cook and, last summer, the follow-up Cool2Cook2.

"They are both high quality and colourful booklets which appeal to primary schoolchildren and help get across the message that a balanced diet is part of a healthy lifestyle.

"It provides essential pointers to choosing, preparing and presenting food that will stand our children in good stead for the rest of their lives.

"HCC encourages everyone to cook balanced meals which include local ingredients, which of course means PGI Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef, and this is especially true of our young people."

Cool2Cook2 features recipes for filled Crispy Bread Cases; Meaty Tomato Pasta; Sticky Carrot and Orange Muffins; Welsh Lamb Stir Fry; Welsh Lamb Patties; Beefy Chip-Topped Pie; Stir-Fry Fruit; Spicy Welsh Lamb Koftas; Sweet and Sour Pork; Fun & Tasty Sarnies and Easy Peasy Salad.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has slammed the Food Standards Agency (FSA) board for pressing ahead with meat hygiene inspection charges which will cost the farming and meat industry an estimated £25 million.

"While it would appear on the surface that the FSA has made concessions, these are minor compared with the dire impact that the plans will have on the industry, and many suspect that they are merely a smokescreen to hide this fact," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.

"The FSA's board has effectively agreed to transfer the running costs of an outdated, disproportionate and inefficient monopoly to an industry which has already lost four-fifths of its slaughterhouses in the past two decades, mainly as a result of excessive bureaucracy."

Mr Vaughan said that the inclusion of figures which derive from the FSA's pension deficit simply add insult to injury.

"Why should the industry have to foot a bill which relates to employment contracts over which we had no control and may have been financially unrealistic, as was the case in many other industries? "

Under EU rules the FSA is entitled to collect fees or charges to cover costs occasioned by official controls, but must take account of the interests of businesses with a low throughput; traditional methods used for production, processing and distribution; and the needs of businesses located in regions subject to particular geographical constraints.

"The decision goes wholeheartedly against the spirit, if not the actual meaning, of the EU legislation and will undermines a whole host of secondary and tertiary businesses such as local butchers, restaurants and hotels," said Mr Vaughan.

At a recent meeting of the FSA's Welsh Food Advisory Committee, the FUW expressed major concerns regarding the proposals and called on the FSA to supply all slaughterhouses with details of how the revised plans would change their inspection costs.

Estimates given to slaughterhouses based on the FSA's original proposals showed some small and medium sized operations would see inspection charges rise by scores of thousands of pounds.

"We now need to see similar estimates based on the latest proposals given to all operators so that the repercussions for their businesses can be properly understood, and as far as we are concerned there has not been a proper consultation on these latest proposals," Mr Vaughan added.

"However, the overarching principle remains that industry should not be made to pay for the UK's failure to prevent the creation of a disproportionate, costly and monopolistic inspection regime."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed the publication of a draft bill for a Groceries Market Ombudsman following years of lobbying.

"Over the last decade the FUW has consistently argued that the Westminster Government should take the necessary action to redress the imbalance in the powers held by primary producers, processors and retailers," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.

"We will be scrutinising the bill over the coming days and weeks, and urge Parliament to do the same at the earliest possible opportunity to ensure that no more undue delays occur in terms of this long overdue and much needed legislation.

"Our priority will be to ensure that the final legislation is robust enough to properly enforce the supermarket Code of Conduct and that farmers are able to complain without fear that their names will be passed on to retailers, resulting in retribution and blacklisting.

"The legislation must also ensure that penalties reflect the dominance of these companies over the food supply chain and the huge sums of money that abuses of power allow them to make," added Mr Vaughan.

Earlier this month the FUW urged the Westminster Government to appoint a Grocery Market Ombudsman without delay in a bid to end unfair market practices.

In a letter to Defra Secretary of State Caroline Spelman the union pointed out that it has been almost five years since the Office of Fair Trading authorised an initial investigation by the Competition Commission which published its final report in 2008.

"We have urged the new Government to remain committed to the establishment of a grocery adjudicator with sufficient powers to address the concerns raised by the Competition Commission and are naturally pleased with the publication of the draft bill.

"In 2010 the Grocery Market Ombudsman Bill brought forward by Ynys Môn MP Albert Owen received cross party support and presented an ideal opportunity to take forward the establishment of a supermarket Ombudsman," added Mr Vaughan.

"The initial report found that the buying power of grocery retailers and intermediaries is influencing farm profitability and drew attention to the risks this could pose for the future of the UK agriculture industry.

"We believe that a good relationship between retailers and suppliers in the grocery market is important and that its suppliers and retailers will benefit greatly of an independent body to monitor and regulate the sector," said Mr Vaughan.

The Farmers' Union of Wales Carmarthenshire county branch is holding a “Question Time” session entitled “Sustainable Intensification in Agriculture” during its annual general meeting on Monday June 6 at Llanarthne Hall (7.30pm) .

The panel will consist of Gelli Aur College farm manager and project manager SCE grassland module John Owen, Countryside Council for Wales district team leader Huw Williams , Carmarthenshire YFC rural affairs committee chairman Iwan Thomas and FUW deputy director of agricultural policy Rhian Nowell-Phillips.

A top-level delegation from the Farmers' Union of Wales has met the two new Welsh Government ministers with responsibilities for agriculture and later revealed the talks were "very constructive".

FUW president Gareth Vaughan, deputy president Emyr Jones and agricultural policy director Nick Fenwick met minister for business, enterprise, technology and science Edwina Hart - who has responsibility for tourism and agriculture - and her deputy minister Alun Davies, who has day-to-day responsibilities for agriculture, food, fisheries and European programmes.

Mr Vaughan said today: "We raised a broad variety of issues with both ministers including CAP reform, the Tir Mynydd and Glastir agri-environment schemes, and the need to continue the work of the Red Tape Stakeholder group.

"These were very constructive meetings and the minister and deputy minister informed us they were very concerned that the industry should be prosperous, not only for its own sake, but for the sake of all those businesses which rely on it, as well as the wider rural community.

"Both Mrs Hart and Mr Davies expressed their support for the industry and the FUW will be holding them to their words over the coming months and years."

Having attended a meeting of the Welsh food advisory committee earlier in the day at which Food Standards Agency "cost recovery" proposals had dominated the agenda, the delegation raised the issue with both ministers.

"We made it clear that proposed increases in inspection charges for slaughterhouses would result in closures which would undermine a huge range of rural businesses, including many involved in tourism, and would also completely undermine the Welsh food strategy," said Mr Vaughan.

A union delegation will also meet environment minister John Griffiths next Tuesday to discuss issues which fall within his portfolio including bovine TB and the proposed north Pembrokeshire badger cull, and sheep EID.

[caption id="attachment_4320" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Gareth Vaughan[/caption]

The EC's failure to allow rules which deal with technological failures while using electrical instruments to read electronic sheep identification (EID) tags was slammed by Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan today (Wednesday May 18).

Speaking at the NSA Welsh Sheep Event near Machynlleth, Mr Vaughan revealed he had written to the EC's agriculture and rural affairs commissioner Dacian CioloÕs and health and consumer policy commissioner John Dalli expressing the union's deep concern and dismay at the EC's response to discussions on tolerance levels for the "inherent and unavoidable problems" associated with compulsory sheep EID.

"The rules in place at the time of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak were a world away from those which came into force in subsequent years, yet the tragedy which befell UK farmers then is being used to justify regulations which require the use of a technology which cannot deliver the accuracy required by those same rules" said Mr Vaughan, a Newtown sheep farmer.

"It is basically a Catch 22 Regulation which is tailor made to create financial penalties for farm businesses, and we had therefore been in discussion to ensure that the inherent shortcomings of the technology were recognised."

Mr Vaughan added that the EC is well aware of the problems with EID technology after being repeatedly presented with evidence which confirms it is not yet capable of delivering 100% accuracy, and had initially accepted the need for dialogue over changes which took these failings into account.

But at a meeting between the UK's devolved administrations and EU officials last week, at which a paper on tolerances was discussed, EC staff were dismissive of any approach which takes account of problems with the technology.

"This leads to the ridiculous situation whereby EC regulations require all those in the supply chain to record animal movements with 100% accuracy using a technology which - despite meeting standards set by the EC - cannot deliver such accuracy, and for farmers to then be financially penalised for these failings."

"Many farmers are now under the impression that the Commission's intention is to deliberately generate penalties by enforcing the use of an expensive technology which cannot deliver full compliance."

Mr Vaughan urged both European commissioners to ensure their officials take a proportionate approach to the issue of tolerances or provide guidance as to how all businesses involved in the supply chain can affordably get technology, which meets EC standards, to deliver "100% accuracy 100% of the time."