In a warm personal tribute following the death at 75 of Lord Livsey, Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan today described the Liberal Democrat peer as a "good friend" to agriculture in the House of Lords.
"When we had an issue it was very easy to pick up the phone to Lord Livsey," said Mr Vaughan. "It is so important for us to have people in authority who understand the ways of the countryside.
"That is not the case in many quarters, but that certainly couldn't be said of Lord Livsey, who was well versed in the ways of the agricultural industry.
"Apart from that, he was a very, very popular man and politician, and not just with his own party but across the political spectrum."
Following the death of fellow party stalwart, FUW life member Lord Geraint of Ponterwyd, Lord Livsey took over the hosting of the union's annual "Farmhouse Breakfast Week" function in the Lords and three years ago he received the FUW-Barclays Bank plc award for outstanding service to Welsh agriculture.
It was Richard Livsey's contribution to Welsh agriculture at the former Welsh Agricultural College (WAC) in Aberystwyth which caught the attention of the FUW.
Mr Vaughan said that when Mr Livsey was appointed senior lecturer in farm management and then farm manager at WAC during 1971, there were only 30 or so students at the college studying OND/HND, housed in temporary buildings.
"But when he left the college in 1985, after being elected MP for Brecon and Radnor, there were approximately 300 students there."