[caption id="attachment_4824" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The FUW has donated the official scarlet jackets that all seven members of the Welsh team will be wearing during the ceremony.[/caption]

The Farmers' Union of Wales will play a colourful part in the spectacular opening ceremony laid on by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) for the world shearing championships on the first day of next week's Royal Welsh Show on Monday (July 19).

The FUW has donated the official scarlet jackets that all seven members of the Welsh team will be wearing during the ceremony. They were presented with the jackets by FUW president Gareth Vaughan during the union's national annual dinner at the Metropole Hotel, Llandrindod Wells, last October.

"It is only the second time the championships have been held in Wales - the previous occasion was in 1994 - so we are proud to be associated with the Welsh team this time and we wish them every success in the competition," said Mr Vaughan.

During the opening ceremony the Welsh team and 26 other teams representing competing countries will be led on stage at the showground's Meirion Shearing Centre by young attendants dressed in traditional Welsh colours.

The championships will then be declared open to a fanfare of trumpets by RWAS chairman Alun Evans and, following the Welsh national anthem, clog dancers from Royal Welsh Show 2010 feature county Ceredigion will perform.

[caption id="attachment_4821" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Wales Air Ambulance corporate manager Anna Evans with staff of Airbus UK in Broughton, Flintshire, where the mock helicopter was recently revamped.[/caption]

A bright red Wales Air Ambulance mock helicopter will be the centre of attraction for young and older showgoers at the FUW Pavilion during this year's Royal Welsh Show (July 19-22).

The Wales Air Ambulance charity, which provides emergency air cover for the whole of Wales for those facing life-threatening illness or injuries, is FUW president Gareth Vaughan's 2010 chosen charity appeal.

"I am pleased that the FUW and the Wales Air Ambulance have come together to try and raise the profile of my appeal during the Royal Welsh Show," said Mr Vaughan.

"The cost of running the charity's three airbases at Swansea, Welshpool and Caernarfon is over £5m per year and the service has carried out over 11,000 missions to date. I invite FUW members and their families to pop in to the Pavilion during the show and enjoy free light refreshments with us and perhaps make a donation to the appeal."

The helicopters can travel at 140mph - over two miles per minute - reaching most parts of Wales within 15 minutes and each aircraft has the capacity to carry one pilot, two paramedics and two patients.

Since the charity's launch on St David's Day in 2001 it has responded to around 1,500 emergencies a year, saving countless lives in the process.

Owing to the diversity of the landscape in Wales, the service is vital for reaching remote countryside and busy towns and cities when time really matters. From mountain tops to back gardens, the helicopters can be anywhere in Wales within just 20 minutes of an emergency call.

In heavily congested urban areas, the ability to land within close proximity of the patient has proved critical in response to road traffic accidents. Equally, a helicopter can make a vital difference in rural locations, saving valuable time in areas where a land ambulance simply cannot reach.

Wales Air Ambulance fundraising manager for South Wales Rhodri Davies said it is widely believed that a patient's chance of survival and early recovery is significantly increased if they receive the right care within the first hour, otherwise known as the "Golden Hour".

"The fast response times of the Air Ambulance crews and their ability to reach such difficult locations increases the chances of a patient receiving definitive care within this crucial hour," said Mr Davies.

Wales Air Ambulance is funded entirely by the people of Wales - relying on public support to help keep their three helicopters flying 365 days a year. The service does not receive any government or National Lottery Funding.

The money is raised through charitable donations, fundraising events, and membership of the Wales Air Ambulance "Lifesaving Lottery".

For more information on Wales Air Ambulance and how you can help please visit www.walesairambulance.com or contact your nearest fundraising office on 0844 85 84 999.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today described the High Court's decision to uphold an appeal by the Badger Trust against the Welsh Assembly Government's plans for a badger cull in West Wales as a "bitterly disappointing outcome".

"The focus must now be on looking at the judgement and drafting a further order so that moves to address the problem in badgers can go ahead," said the union's bTB spokesman Brian Walters.

"At the same time, we must ensure that farmers in north Pembrokeshire are not subject to extra costs and restrictions which are futile so long as the major wildlife source of the disease continues to infect their cattle.

"Farmers throughout Wales, from Anglesey down to Monmouthshire, have been doing their bit to combat bTB for decades, and are now subject to more movement restrictions and bTB testing than ever before, all at huge expense.

"In north Pembrokeshire the restrictions and financial burdens are even more onerous, yet we know that around one in every seven badgers in the area is infected with bTB, compared with around one in every 140 cows.

"Farmers are doing their bit to control this disease, yet the court has decided that the most significant obstacle to controlling this disease, namely a highly infected badger population, cannot be addressed until further consideration of the facts is undertaken by the Assembly's Rural Affairs Minister."

[caption id="attachment_4816" align="aligncenter" width="200"] FUW president Gareth Vaughan - left - congratulates John Price on being selected as a life member in March 2007.[/caption]

The death has occurred of Farmers' Union of Wales life member John Price, a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies (FRAgS) and former president of the union's Carmarthenshire county branch.

Mr Price, of Dafadfa Isaf, Gwynfe, near Llangadog, died, aged 72, at Glangwili Hospital, Carmarthen, on Tuesday July 6. He leaves his wife, two children and five grandchildren.

Mr Price ran a 144-acre hill farm where he kept beef cattle and sheep. He also rented 66 acres of land and had grazing rights on the Black Mountain.

After leaving school in 1953, he worked on the family farm with his late father until 1968 when he went to assist with the running of the Earl of Ducie's estate in South Gloucestershire. He returned to Dafadfa Isaf in 1981.

Club chairman of Gwynfe YFC in 1960 and secretary of the East Carmarthen Lamb Group, he started taking part in FUW activities in 1983 when he became Carmarthenshire county delegate on the union's national livestock, wool and marts committee and maintained a regular attendance until his death.

He was the committee's chairman from 1991 to 1996, Carmarthenshire county executive committee vice chairman and chairman from 1989 to 1993 and county president from 1993 to 1995.

Between 1993 and 2004 he represented Carmarthenshire on the South Wales regional committee of the British Wool Marketing Board and served as its chairman in 1994-95. From 1991 to 2002 he was a member of the National Sheep Association's Wales committee.

Since 1993 he has been a member of the Wales Land Tribunal Panel and chairman of Gwynfe Show committee twice (1997-1998 and 2003 to date). In 2003 he was made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies (ARAgS) for his contribution to farming and the rural community and became a Fellow in 2008.

He was made an FUW life member in 2007. "John's contribution to the FUW, agriculture and his local community has been exceptional and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him," said the union's Carmarthenshire county executive officer Meinir Bartlett.

The funeral will take place on Monday July 12 when a public service at Capel Maen, Gwynfe, at 1.15pm will be followed by a cremation service at Llanelli Crematorium at 3.30pm. Family flowers only but donations in lieu for Towy Ward, Glangwili Hospital, can be made via Bryan Williams, Coach and Horses, Manordeilo, tel: 01550 777441.