The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has warned that the fall in lamb prices, drastically reduced farm incomes and frustrations over the volume of imported lamb on supermarket shelves means farmer anger is reaching boiling point.

“Lamb prices have fallen drastically over recent weeks, with prices down by around 20 percent compared with the same period last year,” said FUW livestock, wool and marts committee chairman Dafydd Roberts.

“Such falls come against a background of predicted falls in net hill and lowland livestock farm incomes of 41 and 24 percent.”

Mr Roberts said the volumes of imported lamb, which continue to appear on supermarket shelves, added insult to injury for farmers who had seen a fall in liveweight new season lamb prices of around 35p/Kg during June.

“The FUW has highlighted the need for an increase in farmgate prices for all commodities during meetings with supermarkets over recent months, and the current plight of the industry was reiterated in a meeting with deputy minister Rebecca Evans last week.

“We will continue to draw attention to the need for fair farmgate returns in meetings with bodies involved in the supply chain during the Royal Welsh show,” he added.

Mr Roberts said that while there was an ongoing focus on farmers cutting costs and become more efficient, there was widespread feeling that those further down the supply chain were not meeting their side of the bargain by showing the type of commitment to Welsh produce promised during the horsemeat scandal.

“As people struggle to pay bills and face up to the prospect of further falls in CAP support, tempers are beginning to fray and action needs to be taken to restore confidence,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_5372" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) president Glyn Roberts has highlighted the need for a fairer red meat levy distribution system in his final speech as a Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) board member.

Mr Roberts, who has been a member of the statutory Welsh meat promotion body’s board for more than a decade under different board structures, said he was standing down in order to give his new role as FUW president his complete devotion.

Speaking after his last board meeting on Monday (July 6), Mr Roberts said: “I have enjoyed my role as a HCC board member and seeing the organisation rise to a range of challenges in terms of the promotion of Welsh meat and industry development.

“However, there can be no doubt that the inequity in the current red meat levy distribution system has held us back to the detriment of Welsh farmers, particularly over recent years.”

Mr Roberts was referring to the system whereby levies collected from farmers and processors in countries in which animals are slaughtered are made to those countries’ meat promotion bodies - HCC in Wales; Quality Meat Scotland in Scotland; and the English Beef and Lamb Executive and British Pig Executive in England.

“This means that HCC’s levy funding does not come close to reflecting the number of animals born and raised in Wales, a problem which has got much worse since the closure of the Gaerwen slaughterhouse in North Wales, which has led to many more Welsh animals being slaughtered in England,” said Mr Roberts.

It is estimated that the closure of the Vion plant at Gaerwen in 2013 led to a drop of around £500,000 in HCC’s red meat levy funding, while the closure of a pork processing facility in Scotland in 2012 had a similarly detrimental impact on Quality Meat Scotland.

“The Farmers’ Union of Wales raised this imbalance with Rosemary Radcliffe in 2005 when she conducted her review of the levy bodies, but the issue was not addressed and we also wrote to Scottish stakeholder organisations in 2010 highlighting the need for action to be taken,” added Mr Roberts.

Responding to the recent Smith Commission report on further devolution for Scotland, which recommends that the Scottish Government be granted extra powers to opt into UK arrangements on red meat levies and receive an equitable share of those levies, Mr Roberts said: “The FUW has made it clear over the past decade that any such moves must be extended to Wales.

“The current levy distribution system is not fit for purpose and Welsh farmers are suffering as a result.

“The advent of EID and other technology means an equitable system should now be easier than ever to implement.”

Mr Roberts said that as a HCC board member his main responsibility had been to scrutinise HCC’s work from within, and that such scrutiny would now continue but from a different perspective.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish the Board and staff of HCC every success,” he added.

[caption id="attachment_5452" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW member Wyn Owen with his son Carwyn[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5453" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) Wyn Owen, former FUW Montgomeryshire county executive officer Susan Jones, Carwyn Owen, FUW stalwart Gareth Vaughan, FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams and FUW vice president Richard Vaughan[/caption]

The Chair for the National Eisteddfod, which has been sponsored by the Farmers’ Union of Wales Montgomeryshire branch, has been handed over to the organisers of this year’s National Eisteddfod (August 1-8).

20 year old Carwyn Owen, of Rhiwfelen, Foel, Welshpool, whose family have been farming here since the early 1960s, is notably the youngest person ever to have been tasked with creating the Eisteddfod Chair.

“I had so many opportunities to develop my skills as a member of the Young Farmers Club and have found a love for woodworking thanks to my grandfather Bryn, who has also made many chairs for the Eisteddfod,” said Mr Owen.

“I was inspired by the wood’s natural beauty and by the mountains in the area, steaming and bending the wood to enable me to create the shape of the mountains in the Chair. 

“Both my grandfathers were keen craftsmen, and I was lucky to inherit a full workshop from one grandfather when I was young, and my other grandfather taught me the art of creating beautiful things from wood,” added Mr Owen.

Speaking after the presentation of the Chair, FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams said: “Carwyn has done a fantastic job and we are very proud as a union to be sponsoring the Chair for this year’s National Eisteddfod.

“This really is a family affair given the FUW’s long standing history with the Eisteddfod and of course also the past involvement of the Owen family in making Eisteddfod Chairs.

“I must thank our former county executive officer Susan Jones for bringing the Owen family to the Eisteddfod’s attention, as Carwyn has done such a wonderful job.

“Carwyn has a strong record of making Chair’s for the Eisteddfod, first of all as a competitor and he was then invited to build the YFC Eisteddfod Bardic Chair and also made the Chair for the Powys Eisteddfod, whilst he was still at school.                                                                                                                 

“The union has always been supportive of the Eisteddfod and all it stands for and this year we are once again proud to be supporting the Welsh language, Welsh culture and Welsh life,” added Mr Williams.

Newly elected Farmers’ Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts has written to UK minister of state for farming George Eustice, backing calls for an independent inquiry into the compulsory use of organophosphates (OPs) sheep dips on farms.

Farmers were previously required by law to dip their sheep with OPs in order to control infestations of sheep ectoparasites, however, mandatory dipping came to an end in 1992 amidst growing concerns over the impact the chemicals were having on farmers’ health.

“Successive UK governments have denied they knew of the dangers of OP exposure,” said FUW animal health and welfare committee chairman Dr Catherine Nakielny.

“However, the FUW now understands that numerous government documents, including some revealed under the freedom of information act, have revealed that officials were privately warned of the dangers farmers faced through exposure to OPs.

“By failing to provide adequate advice and health warnings to those who were mandated to dip their sheep, successive governments effectively increased the exposure of tens of thousands to a dangerous chemical.”

Dr Nakielny said that while compulsory OP dipping was a valuable tool in the fight against parasites such as the sheep scab mite, the apparently blasé attitude  of past governments to a chemical the 1951 Zukerman Report had warned should be labelled as “Deadly Poison” had led to the unnecessary exposure of entire families.

“Dipping on a family farm meant all hands on deck, with children and adults all pitching in without any idea of what they may have been exposing themselves to,” said Dr Nakielny.

Speaking in parliament last month, Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East, called for a full inquiry, independent of DEFRA, to question why farmers might have been compelled to use OP dips with no guidance if governmental research pointed to health impacts.

In response to the debate the minister of state for farming, George Eustice, told MP’s that he was sympathetic to farmers suffering from ill health and he acknowledged that some of them associate their illness with the use of organophosphate sheep dips.

In his letter to George Eustice, FUW President Glyn Roberts said “As you will be aware, numerous peer reviewed scientific publications have now demonstrated a credible link between the use of organophosphate sheep dip and producer ill-health.  To date, several hundred farmers from across the UK have cited debilitating health problems from exposure to organophosphate concentrates which occurred during the then Government’s compulsory dipping programme.

“We now believe the evidence supporting the establishment of an independent inquiry into organophosphate poisoning is incontrovertible and would urge you to support the widespread calls for such an inquiry.”

“We must congratulate Ms Morden and all others involved in bringing this debate to parliament and calling for an inquiry.  We very much hope that government will give this topic the attention it truly deserves,” added Mr Roberts.