The Farmers' Union of Wales has welcomed the news that 91 per cent of Welsh Single Payments will be released on December 3 - the first day of the payment window.

The announcement that over £213 million would be released to more than 15,000 farm businesses was made by deputy agriculture minister Alun Davies during a Hybu Cig Cymru breakfast event at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Llanelwedd.

Speaking after the event, FUW president Emyr Jones said: "I would like to thank all those Welsh Government staff who have worked hard to ensure that such a large proportion of claims have been processed and can be released on the first day of the payment period.

"The Single Payment represents an essential injection of funds into our rural communities which sustain farms and a host of other businesses which rely directly or indirectly on agriculture."

Mr Jones also welcomed the deputy minister's commitment to maintaining the CAP budget at a level which reflected its importance to the economy of Wales.

"We have heard a great deal from successive UK governments about cutting CAP spending and moving money away from food production but we have yet to see a 'plan B' which holds water and recognises the challenges we face in terms of feeding a growing global population.

"In the absence of acceptable Pillar 1 CAP payments we would see the collapse of our rural economies and communities, and UK and EU food security would be severely compromised at a time when global food shortages are occurring more and more frequently.

"The deputy minister is right to recognise these concerns, and is very much on the same page as the FUW in doing so."

[caption id="attachment_3795" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MEMORIAL AWARD: Harley-Blue Clarke-Stead receives the Walter Rowlands Memorial Award from his widow Mrs Nesta Rowlands.[/caption]

An animal management student at Pencoed College, near Bridgend, has won the Farmers' Union of Wales Glamorgan county branch Walter Rowlands Memorial Award.

Harley-Blue Clarke-Stead (correct spelling) of Graig-yr-Hufen Farm, Senghenydd, Caerphilly, received the accolade for her excellent work as an agricultural student.

The award consists of a £200 grant to be used towards educational studies and was devised in memory of Walter Rowlands to recognise his hard work during his 29 years' employment with the FUW as a county secretary.

Harley-Blue lives on her family's farm which runs a wide range of livestock which she also helps to manage. She said: "I adore working with animals and wish to pursue a career working in this field.

"As a family we produce our own meat and sausages. We then sell it in the local butchers in Gelligaer and have recently invested in 37 Welsh weaners.

"Throughout the year we slaughter lambs and pigs which are also supplied to local butchers within a 10-mile radius of the farm.

"We use the local slaughterhouse which is five miles away and this cuts down on food miles and fuel costs. This has less impact on the carbon footprint and keeps the cost of production low. It also helps the local businesses to stay open."

During her first year at Pencoed College Harley-Blue did voluntary work teaching children with disabilities to ride horses. "College has given me many options to further my education which will hopefully enable me to pursue a successful career within the agricultural industry," she added.

FUW Glamorgan members, in consultation with members of Mr Rowlands's family, felt Harley-Blue's detailed and outstanding application thoroughly deserved the award.

FUW vice president Lorraine Howells, who presented the award to Harley-Blue along with Mrs Nesta Rowlands and her son Greg Rowlands, said: "The FUW are extremely keen to support budding young farmers through this award and as Harley-Blue is involved in working on the family farm, as well as continuing her studies in Pencoed College, she is the perfect candidate."

Fellow FUW vice president Brian Walters said: "Students like Harley-Blue are the future of Welsh farming especially as she is involved in all aspects, from producing their own meat on the farm to volunteering in the local agricultural shop, where the produce is sold, as well as gaining experience in the local veterinary surgery.

"Harley-Blue is an ambitious and capable student and we wish her all the best with her future studies."

The presentation evening was sponsored by EON and their representative David Foode made an informative and interesting presentation to members about cost-cutting methods on their electricity bills as well as ideas for diversification such as renewable energy options for farmers to consider.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today expressed concern at the potential effect Vion food group's intention to withdraw from its UK operation base could have on the meat production and processing sector in Wales.

Vion is a major purchaser of Welsh Lamb and beef and as well as employing over 12,000 full time equivalent employees across the UK, 3,491 are employed in their four sites across Wales including Anglesey, Merthyr Tydfil and Sandycroft, Flintshire.

FUW livestock, wool and marts committee chairman Dafydd Roberts said: "This announcement will result in uncertainty for the farming industry in Wales who need to know that they participate in a stable supply chain.

"This uncertainty comes as farmers are already facing a winter with high input costs due to a poor growing season. The FUW stresses the need for Vion to provide stability and certainty whilst divesting of its operations in Wales, with no disruption to the supply chain or loss of jobs to the Welsh economy."

Mr Roberts, a beef and sheep farmer on Anglesey, said the move was disappointing, particularly as there had been hopes for further investment at the company's operations on the island. "If they were to close it would be a blow for the whole Welsh meat industry.

"If we lose one of the big ones like Vion then others might take advantage of the farmers. We are quite disappointed they are selling up because we were told they would be improving Anglesey."

Mr Roberts added that the options available to red meat producers in Wales in terms of processing facilities are limited. "The Vion abattoir and processing plants are important elements of the supply chain, enabling farmers in Wales to access supermarket outlets for quality Welsh beef, lamb and poultry products.

"It is essential for the industry to ensure that these routes to market are secured for the long term and the FUW looks forward to hearing of a positive outcome to the Vion UK sales negotiations."

Free professional advice on issues such as rent reviews, tenancy rights, compulsory purchase, renewable energy and rural property will be available to farmers visiting the Farmers' Union of Wales stand at this year's Royal Welsh Winter Fair at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells on Monday and Tuesday November 26-27.

Principal Philip Meade and fellow team members Eifion Bibby and Kathryn Lewis, of Davis Meade Property Consultants, will be available for a free face-to-face consultation on the FUW stand in the Livestock Complex Hall 1 during the event.

"This will be an ideal opportunity for farmers to get an independent opinion on issues that are of concern to them," said Mr Meade.

"Whether it's a simple question on a compensation claim, a more complex tenancy matter or help with a property sale or inheritance tax planning we will be pleased to help."

Drop in on the FUW stand at the Winter Fair or contact Davis Meade Property Consultants on 01691 659658, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Farmers' Union of Wales' animal health and welfare committee has accused the Charity Commission of bringing the nature of charities into disrepute by failing to confront the RSPCA over its threats to farmers.

The claim comes in the same week as RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant attracted fresh criticism for suggesting in a BBC Panorama documentary that the organisation would "name and shame" those involved in a badger cull in England.

Both Mr Grant and RSPCA vice president Brian May have attracted harsh criticism over recent months following a string of threats against businesses in the English badger cull areas, and calls for a boycott of all UK milk if "badger-friendly" labelling did not appear on dairy products.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that these threats have brought the RSPCA into extreme disrepute amongst farmers and large numbers of the general public" said FUW animal health and welfare committee chairman Catherine Nakielny.

"The RSPCA do extremely important and worthwhile work but the increasing tendency towards extremist rhetoric and threats, which are tantamount to blackmail, undermines all that good work."

Dr Nakielny said that the FUW had written to the Charity Commission repeatedly over the years regarding the RSPCA's use of misleading campaigning and lurch towards extremism but that the commission seemed to have an "anything goes" policy.

"When an organisation becomes this radicalised and openly threatens an entire community then that not only brings the charity into disrepute but also undermines the very principles we all associate with charitable behaviour. It basically brings all registered charities and the body which governs them into disrepute."

In a recent letter, FUW president Emyr Jones told the commission that their "...response to [previous concerns raised by the FUW] and similar complaints have done nothing but encourage the charity to act with impunity, and I am therefore writing to ask, once again, that the Commission take decisive action in relation to the RSPCA's lobbying actions, which have now become extreme to the point of being both aggressive and threatening."

Mr Jones was also harshly critical of the RSPCA chief executive's recent claim in an interview with Farmers Guardian that the charity was "the oldest law enforcement agency still in existence in this country", telling the commission that the comment seemed to epitomise the way in which the RSPCA regarded itself as some form of surrogate police force, rather than a body focused on charitable activities.

Dr Nakielny said "The Charity Commission's response to our President's letter was typically benign towards the RSPCA's recent aggression, to the point where you wonder whether any organisation which is not engaged directly in party political activities might qualify for charitable status, despite our traditional notion that a charity should serve the public good in a reputable way.

"For those thousands who feel intimidated by the RSPCA's escalating threats, the actions of the charity are anything but charitable, yet the Charity Commission seems happy to give such extremism its blessing.

"If the Charity Commission believes that it does not have the powers to effectively deal with such aggression then it should seek to extend its powers."

[caption id="attachment_3784" align="aligncenter" width="640"] FUW president Emyr Jones ,second from right, chairs the question and answer panel of speakers ,from left, James Severn, Duncan Montgomery, Stuart Agnew and Prof Chris Pollock[/caption]

The uncertain future for farming was compared with the unpredictability of the weather at the Farmers' Union of Wales' annual conference held at Aberystwyth yesterday (Thursday November 15) on the topic "Future Harvests: Sowing the seeds for the next decade".

Setting the scene, FUW president Emyr Jones told delegates: "Our reliance on the weather, and its unpredictability, makes some of us pessimistic, even negligent, about planning for the future.

"If we don't know whether we can cut hay, spread fertiliser, or drill seeds for days - sometimes hours - before the event, how can we contemplate the next decade?

"At the moment, we have no certainty about the future shape of EU agricultural policy, despite the fact that changes to the policy will have a huge impact on our businesses and that is a very worrying factor for every farmer in Wales.

"If we are to run our businesses effectively, we have to face the future with open eyes. We have to change the ways in which we operate in order to prepare for the future - however uncertain that future is."

"We can be certain there will be more people to feed, and less land on which to produce food to feed them, and we will rely on scientists and policymakers, whether in the UK or Europe, to help agriculture meet those growing needs."

The conference then heard the thoughts of four speakers on how the industry might address these issues.

Aberystwyth University honorary professor Chris Pollock, former chief scientific officer to the First Minister in Wales and chair of the Advisory Committee on Releases into the Environment, dealt with bovine TB and GM crops.

He said bTB is serious, spreading and difficult to manage. "It is spread within herds, via cattle movements and via a third party - badgers. All three elements need to be addressed to solve the problem. You can't pick and choose which one.

"Better testing, rapid removal of reactors and enforced movement controls address the first two elements and - to its eternal credit - the farming industry did this with relatively little criticism."

Referring to the current Welsh Government's bTB policy, Prof Pollock said in areas of high disease incidence vaccination will not prevent infected badgers from infecting cattle.

"Under the previous administration, where localised culling was to be implemented as a pilot, it could be argued that Welsh policy development, implementation and monitoring were strongly evidence-based and dealt as effectively as possible with uncertainty.

"In my opinion, the uncertainties surrounding culling were not sufficient evidence to move to a less effective but politically more acceptable alternative and that is why I fell out with the current administration."

On GM crops, Prof Pollock said there was no scientific evidence that the technology is inherently unsafe and they had a 20-year history of safe use worldwide.

"Faced with the same evidence, Scotland and Wales have chosen - for political reasons - to oppose all GM cultivation although not importation. To its credit the Whitehall administration has consistently voted with the evidence and supported release.

"Is it any wonder that many of us think that evidence-based policy making will generally lose out to policy-based evidence-making?"

James Severn, director of farm business consultants Andersons Northern (England) Ltd, spoke about joint farming ventures and the benefits of working together to become more profitable, sustainable, efficient and competitive.

He outlined four typical "Share to Farm" projects which his firm had been involved with and explained that volatility within the industry was a very real concern and a huge issue facing farmers.

"Output prices and input costs pose a very significant challenge to farming businesses. But working together can offer huge benefits," he added.

East of England UKIP MEP, Norfolk farmer Stuart Agnew, a member of the European Parliament's agriculture and rural development committee, revealed he is often a lone voice speaking up for British farmers and trying to make the committee understand the practical effects of their proposals on farmers in the real world.

He backed many of Prof Pollock's views on GM crops and claimed opposition to them was "fuelled by a hatred of capitalism".

Shrewsbury-based taxation expert Duncan Montgomery, of chartered accountants Whittingham Riddell, delivered a wide-ranging perspective on measures to overcome the barriers to succession for young entrants to farming.