The Farmers’ Union of Wales Anglesey branch held a pie and a pint evening reception at this year’s Anglesey County Show to open up discussions about the possibility of opening a mini abattoir on the Island.

“The reception was well attended including  Anglesey leader of the council Ieuan Williams, AM Rhun Ap Iorwerth, MP Albert Owen, local butcher Karl Jones and Gerallt Jones of Menter Môn and was sponsored by Cwrw Llyn, Purple Moose and Butchers Poveys of Chwilog, J T Thomas Llangefni and Karl Jones of Valley Butchers,” FUW Anglesey county executive officer Heidi Williams.

A feasibility study had been compiled by farmers and members of the AGAP group, concluded that an abattoir handling 30 livestock units-a-week could break even, or make a small profit, but start-up costs would be daunting.

However Anglesey farmer Iolo Owen has now offered three acres for a potential site and grants may be available to support the venture.

“It is great news that Karl Jones of Valley Butchers would consider investing if everything fell into place.  He has built the reputation of his business on the quality of local produce and sources his produce locally to sell to local people, and by doing so cutting food miles. But since the abattoir in Gaerwen closed, he has been forced to haul stock all the way to Wrexham, then all the way back.

“A small multi-species facility would not depend on large single contracts and as well as retail, it would supply the wholesale and catering sectors, and allow for private kills too.

“This initiative could help fill the gap left by the closure of Gaerwen and a smaller operation would be of huge benefit to farmers on the island. We would like to also thank Sion Aron Jones from Hybu Cig Cymru who gave a presentation on the evening on the outlook of Welsh meat and added that the body would be happy to support any venture that added value to Welsh Meat,” added Mrs Williams.

Whilst welcoming the Welsh governments draft strategy for dealing with fly tipped waste, the Farmers’ Union of Wales remains concerned that fly-tipping continues to be a significant problem to private landowners, particularly in rural areas abutting the urban fringe.

“Fly-tipping has health, visual and financial implications for land owners and the wider local economy. We need a well-resourced strategy, that incorporates industry bodies and government to tackle the problem,” said FUW land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams.

“Recent moves by local authorities to either close local Civic Amenity Sites or introduce charges for domestic waste, will inevitably impact on the prevalence of fly-tipping in the future and could undermine any strategic actions Welsh government seeks to put in place.

“The Welsh government draft strategy contains few actions which address the costs and bureaucracy laid on private landowners when dealing with the removal and disposal of fly-tipped material and until there is a concerted effort to facilitate the disposal of this waste the industry will see no positive advantages in reporting fly-tipped waste,” added Mr Williams.

In its response to the recent Welsh government consultation, the FUW’s land use and parliamentary committee chairman said that the union broadly supports the vision set out in the paper and believes that there has been considerable progress in understanding the issues since the last consultation and some welcome progress in co-working amongst public and private sectors.

“It is important however to ensure that the momentum that has been created over recent years is maintained so that cost saving exercises by the public sector does not end up stalling the work undertaken to date,” added Mr Williams.

The FUW also believes that more could be done to raise awareness and educate the wider public on their responsibilities to ensure that their waste is disposed of legally. This provision of advice and information needs to encompass both the legal aspects of waste disposal but also the provision of advice and guidance on the local facilities available for the various waste streams.

Members and officials of the Farmers’ Union of Wales engaged in successful discussions on  issues of concern with local politicians Stephen Crabb MP, Simon Hart MP and Paul Davies AM at Pembrokeshire County Show.

High on the agenda was the current beef price crisis and members made their views clear that a drop of 64 pence a kilo between April 2013 and June 2014 was unsustainable and that the recently announced Russian import ban was likely to further exacerbate the problem.

“We urge the UK government to also look at the Irish and Polish imports which are currently flooding our market and the practices of the supermarkets as the price of British beef for the consumer has not fallen to reflect the current market price which we are receiving.

“The current beef price crisis coupled with the 15% loss of CAP monies is putting Welsh farmers at an unfair disadvantage,” said FUW Pembrokeshire county chairman Hywel Vaughan.

Members further raised the issue of labelling and packaging, making it clear that it was still not easy for consumers to make a quick informed decision about the origin of their meat when purchasing.

Other issued discussed included the impact of bovine TB on individual businesses, the new greening regulations under the CAP and the superfast broadband rollout.

Speaking at the show, FUW Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Voyle said: “We need the  Welsh Government to make allowances for farmers making genuine errors in 2015 on their single applications forms and during the year as the introduction of the new scheme will see some significant changes the full details of which have yet to be provided to the industry.

“Further to this farmers are increasingly being expected to complete their paperwork online; for example application forms for the new Glastir Organic and Glastir Advanced schemes will only be available online. Whilst we are aware that Superfast broadband is being rolled out in Pembrokeshire there are still nine rural areas in the county without any or very poor broadband which have not yet been allocated a start date for installation, which is a concern.”

[caption id="attachment_3054" align="aligncenter" width="640"] From left: FUW vice president Richard Vaughan, Stephen Crabb MP, Simon Hart MP, FUW Pembrokeshire county chairman Hywel Vaughan and FUW Pembrokeshire president John Savins[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has today revealed its speakers for its upcoming autumn conference themed ‘Joint ventures in farming – myth breaking and match making’ - to be held at the William Davies Conference Hall, IBERS, Aberystwyth, on Wednesday October 15 .

“In a bid to explore all aspects of succession, addressing the conference will be Duncan Montgomery of Whittingham Riddell chartered accountants on the subject of tax and financial planning, Euryn Jones of HSBC bank will provide a view on the range of joint venture opportunities from the banks’ point of view, Nerys Llewelyn Jones of Agri-Advisor is looking at the range of ventures and legal aspects of succession, Malcolm Thomas of JCP Solicitors explores how industry and government can support young entrants through initiatives such as the Young Entrants Support scheme and Tony Evans of The Andersons Centre will speak on his experiences of advising and supporting  joint venture farming contracts,” said FUW younger voice for farming committee chairman Darren Williams.

“In addition to the range of speakers we will also be holding a number of workshops facilitated by Kathryn Lewis and James Neame of Davis Meade Property Consultants on succession planning and the practicalities, Charles Coats of Charles Coats Associates Ltd will look at opportunities for succession on local authority estates, Gail Lewis of Agri-Advisor will explore the range of available opportunities in joint venture farming and Tony Evans of The Andersons Centre will host a session on how to make the best possible match.

“This conference aims to put the spotlight on succession, which is often a taboo subjects for farming families. There are plenty of young enthusiastic people who wish to enter the industry so we hope to clear up  some of the myths and preconceptions about joint venture farming to help those who have not yet planned their future and who may be interested in more information on the options available to them,” added Mr Williams.

FUW president Emyr Jones said the conference was the start of a process for the union, which aimed to encourage farmers to look at ways in which their land will be farmed in the future, whilst offering them security and access to support.

“We would like to extend a warm welcome to all those interested in learning more about joint venture farming and urge you to book your space for the conference by contacting your local county executive officer or the FUW press office on 01970 820820,” said Mr Jones.