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Tim Bennett, centre, receives the Farmers’ Union of Wales HSBC Bank challenge trophy for outstanding service to the Welsh dairy industry from FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts, right, and HSBC head of agriculture Allan Wilkinson.[/caption]
DairyCo chairman Tim Bennett was today (Monday October 17) revealed as the winner of the annual Farmers' Union of Wales-HSBC Bank plc award to the person who has made an outstanding contribution to the Welsh dairy industry.
Announcing the winner at an FUW reception on the eve of the Welsh Dairy Show in Carmarthen, the union's president Emyr Jones said Mr Bennett was a worthy winner due to the breadth and depth of work he has done - and continues to do - to support the dairy industry in Wales.
Mr Bennett, of Derwendeg, Maesybont, Carmarthenshire, has spent the majority of his farming career milking pedigree Holsteins in partnership with his wife at Derwendeg.
The herd yielded some 7,000 litres per annum with youngstock reared as replacements for the dairy herd or for beef production.
After running the dairy herd for 27 years he then had an Aberdeen Angus breeding and store cattle unit. For many years the farm also ran an egg laying unit selling direct to consumers and it was converted to organic production in 2008.
Mr Bennett was appointed DairyCo chairman in March 2007 and as a consequence of that appointment he also sits on the board of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.
Throughout his farming career he has been heavily involved with agricultural politics and rose through the ranks of the Carmarthenshire NFU executive in the 1980s before becoming county chairman in 1988.
He was elected as NFU deputy president in 1998 and president in 2004, a position he held for two years.
He is also currently Food Standards Agency vice chairman and a trustee of the Farm and Wildlife Advisory Group. Five years ago he was made an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Society five years ago and, in recognition of his continued outstanding contributions, made a Fellow in 2010.
As DairyCo chairman, he was instrumental in negotiations between the levy board and the Welsh Assembly Government that in 2010 secured £3.3m of support to the Welsh dairy industry over a period of three years to help improve efficiency, sustainability and added value in the dairy supply chain.
Last month he received the 2011 Dairy UK award in recognition of his important contribution to the development of the UK dairy industry.
Speaking at the FUW event, NFU Scotland's milk committee vice chairman Gary Mitchell said the status quo within the GB dairy sector is no longer an option as it has simply delivered poor milk prices, falling production and a growing trade deficit in dairy products.
Mr Mitchell, a dairy farmer from Stranraer, added: "Producers round the country are committed to being part of a vibrant and thriving dairy sector but that requires a more positive and long-term mindset being adopted by all parts of the dairy supply chain.
"We have the climate, the technical knowledge, the efficiency and the enthusiasm to produce milk. All we require as producers is for processors and retailers to match that commitment and put in place a pricing mechanism that gives us the confidence to invest, expand and improve the industry.
"Since the spring, we have discussed with producers, processors and retailers the need for a more formulaic system for pricing milk. Something that would deliver a fair, transparent, market-related price that is on level terms with prices being paid in Europe and give UK producers the confidence to move forward.
"That is an approach to pricing that accepts that it brings both risks as well as rewards but it also recognises that any commercial solution must also be to the benefit of milk processors if it is to benefit us as producers."