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Brian Bowen.[/caption]
If you are a small farm business around Abergavenny and Builth Wells, you could soon benefit from a new Prince of Wales initiative.
The Farmers’ Union of Wales was pleased to learn that the Prince’s Countryside Fund, which aims to improve the prospects of family farm businesses and the quality of rural life, is leading a £1.5 million, five-year initiative to help tackle some of the biggest challenges being faced by small farm businesses across the UK and Wales will now also be included.
FUW Finance and Organisation Committee delegate for South Wales, Brian Bowen said: “This is great news for our Welsh farmers here in the mid and south Wales region. The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme will provide free practical and essential business workshops and one-to-one guidance to 40 small dairy, livestock and mixed family farm businesses around Abergavenny and Builth Wells in 2017 and I urge our members not to miss out on this opportunity.”
Building on the success of The Prince’s Dairy Initiative the new programme will support up to 300 farm businesses each year across the UK. It aims to help farm businesses by giving them the tools to evaluate their viability and long-term sustainability as well as supporting them to make key decisions about the future direction of their business.
Introductory sessions to meet the team and find out how the programme could benefit you are being held at Monmouthshire Livestock Centre Croesbychan on Monday January 9 between 7-9pm - (Contact Dave Pett 07813 454537 for more details) and at the Smithfield Joinery in Maesmynis, Builth Wells on Thursday January 12, between 7-9pm (Contact Megan Loynes 07815 600240 for more details).
Claire Saunders, director of The Prince’s Countryside Fund said, “In recent years it has been really tough for many of our smaller family farms. By offering this programme of free, expert help and advice during these times of uncertainty, we will provide small farm businesses with new skills to help them build their business to be more resilient in the future.”