The Farmers' Union of Wales has told a Welsh Assembly inquiry into the future of the Common Agricultural Policy that its work should continue until the new CAP is implemented in Wales sometime after 2013.

During todays evidence session, FUW president Emyr Jones said : "By creating this Task and Finish Group at an early stage in the new Assembly, the Environment and Sustainability Committee recognised the importance of the CAP to Wales."

He added : "I trust that the timetable ahead will also be recognised by the Committee over the coming months and years, either through the creation of a full committee and a rolling inquiry, or the establishment of further task and finish groups without losing any expertise gained by committee members during the current inquiry."

In its evidence, the union told AMs that the current proposal to use claims made in 2014 as the basis for allocating future payment entitlements represented a threat for many businesses which was just as concerning as proposed greening measures.

Afterwards, Mr Jones said : "Our initial inquiries with FUW staff who complete thousands of Single Application forms confirm that the 2014 reference year represents a major threat for many, particularly in the tenanted sector."

Mr Jones said the FUW would be attending numerous meetings with EU officials and politicians over the coming days in order to highlight this and other concerns.

"We are committed to doing all we can to get the best deal for Wales' farmers.

"This is why the FUW has been looking in detail at CAP reform and its implications for Welsh agriculture for at least the past two and a half years, and has urged successive Welsh Governments to do the same. That work will continue and accelerate over the coming months."

The winner of the Farmers' Union of Wales £1,000 student bursary scheme will be announced in the presence of the top three candidates on the opening day (Monday November 28) of the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

The three finalists are 18-year-olds Carys Mair Jones, of Glanbynant, Gwynfe Road, Llandeilo and Ilan Llewelyn Hughes, Erw Fair, Llangwm, Corwen, and 16-year-old Eurof Edwards, Erw Deg, Llangernyw, Abergele, Conwy.

They will find out which of the £700, £200 and £100 bursaries they have won when the judges announce their decision in the FUW Pavilion - alongside the main Royal Welsh Show ring at Llanelwedd - at 11.15am.

All the candidates were asked to outline in no more than 250 words what winning the bursary would mean to them and how it could benefit their future career.

Meanwhile, the FUW stand - alongside the cattle ring in the Livestock Complex Hall 1 - will be a hive of activity.

The winners of an FUW-organised national children's competition to design a Christmas card will be presented with their prizes by union president Emyr Jones at 9.30am on the opening day.

The competition was split into two categories - English and Welsh designs. The criterion for the entries was that they should depict a farming scene with a Christmas theme.

The Welsh category was won by nine-year-old Rhys Williams, a pupil at Ysgol Llanafan, near Aberystwyth. His winning design depicted Santa Claus driving a tractor above a row of sheep.

The winner of the English category is nine-year-old Alex Mary Charman, a pupil at Priory Church in Wales School, Brecon, whose winning picture showed Santa flying into the sky on a tractor pulled by a reindeer.

Both win a £25 Argos voucher plus £100 of Atebol vouchers for their schools.

The judging panel also decided to award five-year-old Gwilym Workman, a pupil at Ysgol Pontsenni, Brecon, with a highly commended prize as they were delighted with his design of a snow man. He will also receive a £25 Argos voucher.

Most of the competition entries will form a colourful centrepiece to the FUW's stand where the public will be able to buy the cards in packs of 10 for £5 with the proceeds going to the FUW President's charity - Cancer Research Wales.

The cards will also be available to purchase from FUW offices around the country or by mail order from the union's head office in Aberystwyth.

FUW members and supporters are also welcome to call at the stand for refreshments where they can enter a draw for a Welsh food hamper, with proceeds going to Cancer Research Wales, and fill in a topical questionnaire to be entered into another draw for a food hamper.

Children will be urged to name a giant Teddy Bear which will take pride of place alongside the stand's traditional Christmas tree.

Free professional advice on issues such as renewable energy, tenancy rights, compulsory purchase and rural property issues will also be available to farmers calling at the stand where chartered surveyors Philip Meade and Eifion Bibby of Davis Meade Property Consultants will be available for a free consultation.

THE Farmers' Union of Wales has welcomed the Welsh Government's "sensible" approach to the planned introduction of buffer zones alongside watercourses to tackle water pollution from agriculture.

"We were concerned that the Welsh Government would 'gold plate' a new Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) and adopt higher standards than the European minimum," said FUW deputy director of agricultural policy Rhian Nowell-Phillips.

"So we are pleased that the deputy agriculture minister has taken heed of the FUW's lobbying and decided to implement only the minimum requirement for farmers in Wales."

It will mean that, from January 1 2012, all farmers who claim payments under the Single Payment Scheme will be prohibited from spreading inorganic fertilisers within two metres of the surface of a watercourse and manures within 10 metres. Application of manures will also be prohibited within 50 metres of boreholes, springs and wells.

"We felt strongly that the original proposals to increase the minimum standard imposed by Europe were not backed up by scientific evidence and we urged the Welsh Government not to gold plate cross-compliance regulations and adopt a higher standard than the minimum required," Ms Nowell-Phillips added.

[caption id="attachment_4578" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Dilwyn John[/caption]

Newly-elected chairman of Farmers' Union of Wales' common land committee Dilwyn John today described the implications of abolishing Less Favoured Area (LFA) payments in favour of the Glastir agri-environment scheme as severely threatening for commoning communities.

Mr John, a past FUW Brecon and Radnor county chairman, farms around 240 acres at Dan Y Graig Farm, Cwmtaff, Merthyr Tydfil, and has grazing rights on Vaynor commons for 1,500 sheep.

Together with his wife, Beth, he runs a flock of 700 South Wales Mountain ewes.

"At a meeting of the common land committee delegates described a wide range of problems they were experiencing in trying to access Glastir, all of which represent a major barrier for graziers associations in areas where farm incomes are set to drop significantly when Tir Mynydd is abolished," said Mr John.

"Wales has the highest proportion of common land in the UK, and around 18 per cent of Welsh farms declare common land annually. The EU rules governing schemes such as Glastir mean there are inherent obstacles to many commons entering Glastir and in some areas these are insurmountable."

Mr John said that in some areas the involvement of inactive graziers who had previously shown no interest in a common was splitting communities and preventing access to the scheme.

"Other examples of problems include those with very few rights outvoting genuine graziers, because the European Commission has refused to accept that the more rights you have the more control you have of a common.

"This means people with grazing rights for just a few animals can, in some cases, have the same power as graziers who are farming a common and have rights to graze thousands of animals."

Members have also experienced obstacles as a result of the Countryside Council of Wales refusing to allow commoners to change grazing patterns in order to access Glastir while others believed that changes to grazing regimes could damage environments and result in major fire risks.

"Glastir is a dog's dinner and a recipe for disaster for many commons, with many of the problems being a direct result of the EC's failure to accept that our system of commoning is unique and requires rules which are far more tailor made," Mr John added.

"The abolition of Tir Mynydd, combined with the Welsh Government's failure to persuade the EU to make allowances for these unique farming systems, means a disaster for many of our most vulnerable upland communities."