[caption id="attachment_3632" align="aligncenter" width="500"] From left, Roger Van Praet, Tony Williams and Dave Manuel.[/caption]

FARMERS' Union of Wales Montgomeryshire area officer Tony Williams and his son-in-law Dave Manuel have made an emotional train ride to boost the union's charity fund for Cancer Research Wales (CRW).

Tony lost his daughter to breast cancer in December 2010 and he is recovering from prostate cancer.

He secured two tickets to ride on the footplate of a Ffestiniog Railway steam locomotive running between Porthmadog and Blaenau Ffestiniog by offering the highest amount when they went up for auction among FUW members.

The generous donation of £300 made by Tony will go towards FUW president Emyr Jones's CRW appeal fund.

"Cancer, especially breast and prostate cancer, has been a major upheaval in our lives over the past two or three years, which is why we were more than happy to donate to the fund," said Tony.

"And, of course, Dave and I also wanted to ride on the footplate which turned out to be such a fantastic experience.

"Raising money for Cancer Research Wales is something worth doing and we can only encourage others to raise as many funds for this charity as possible," added Tony.

FUW deputy operations director and Ffestiniog Railway volunteer driver Roger Van Praet approached FR general manager Paul Lewin and was delighted to be given the two coveted footplate passes to ride on the engine for the day for auction for CRW.

"The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways work closely with our farming neighbours and are delighted to be able to support the FUW's chosen charity, Cancer Research Wales, in offering the passes for auction," said Mr Lewin.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has appointed former North East Wales common land development officer Rhys Lloyd Roberts as its county executive officer for Denbighshire and Flintshire.

Mr Roberts, of Llanrhaedr, Denbigh, was educated at Glan Clwyd Secondary School, Llanelwy; Llysfasi College, Ruthin; and Bangor and Manchester Universities. He started his new job at the FUW's office at 69A Clwyd Street, Ruthin, this week.

His previous job involved assisting common land graziers in Denbigh, Flint, Wrexham, and Montgomeryshire to enter the Common Land element of the Glastir agri-environment. His responsibilities included explaining how the Glastir scheme works and assisting graziers in establishing a grazing association and submitting an application.

Speaking about his new appointment, Mr Roberts said: "I have always been keen to secure a position within the agricultural industry in North Wales that will challenge me and, where possible, enable me to develop within the role in the future as well as build upon my existing skills and experience.

"As a native of the Vale of Clwyd, I grew up on a sheep farm on the hills between Denbigh and Ruthin where my father worked as a bailiff on a traditional estate.

“After leaving school and attending Llysfasi College, I spent around 10 years working on two prominent farming businesses in the Vale of Clwyd where I was able to gain valuable experience of the dairy, sheep and beef sectors."

In 1994 he entered the world of selling, firstly with a Massey Ferguson dealership (North Wales Agri Engineers, Trefnant, Denbigh) before he was offered a position with Conwy Land Rover Ltd. in 1995.

After graduating from Bangor and Manchester, he worked for the international engineering company Hyder Consulting as a consultant within the environment sector, dealing primarily with wind farm and road projects throughout Britain and Ireland. He spent the last six months of the job based in Sydney, Australia, where he worked on a new road projects and was also involved with a proposed desalination plant in Adelaide.

After returning from Australia, he spent nearly 18 months as a self-employed agricultural contractor before taking up the post as a Glastir Common Land Development Officer.

"I am now looking forward to working with and assisting the agricultural community in my native area and creating strong and beneficial relationships for both sides," Mr Roberts added.

"It is an exciting and interesting time for the agricultural industry. It will be both a challenge and a pleasure to be part of the industry in the future - working on behalf of the FUW’s members."

[caption id="attachment_3628" align="aligncenter" width="250"] Rhys Lloyd Roberts[/caption]

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed MPs support in its bid to halt the closure of two animal health laboratories in Wales and transfer the work to laboratories in England.

"We are pleased that many of the concerns raised by the union in our evidence to the Commons' Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry have been taken on board," said the FUW's hill farming and marginal land committee chairman Derek Morgan.

"We welcome the decision of the MPs on the committee to challenge the redistribution of Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) laboratory testing facilities."

Currently AHVLA laboratory services are delivered by 16 centres across the UK but the agency proposes to decommission laboratory testing services in the Aberystwyth and Carmarthen centres and redistribute the work to other AHVLA centres in England.

"The proposals would see this work being delivered by just eight sites with no laboratory testing services in Wales," Mr Morgan told the Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry.

"Under the proposals, laboratory work currently undertaken in Aberystwyth and Carmarthen would be redistributed to Bury St Edmunds, Lasswade, Newcastle, Penrith, Shrewsbury, Starcross, Sutton Bonington and Weybridge.

"Whilst these changes do not affect the location of post-mortem facilities, veterinary investigation officer activities or the veterinary surveillance programme, the FUW is concerned that the downgrading of laboratory services in Wales will result in a two-tier service.

"Furthermore, the union believes that the loss of laboratory services in Wales will result in a loss of expertise and will increase the vulnerability of such laboratories to any future closures."

The Welsh Affairs Committee has now written to Defra agriculture and food minister James Paice MP expressing concerns about the impact of the proposed closure of some veterinary laboratory facilities in Wales.

The committee has also asked for reassurances that the decommissioning of laboratory testing in Wales will not affect issues such as sample transport and viability, time to diagnosis, farmer-vet relationships, the identification of new and emerging diseases, the level of expertise available and the future of post-mortem testing.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has thrown its support behind a bid by MPs to eliminate unfair contracts and create fairer and more balanced terms for Welsh dairy farmers.

The union's milk and dairy products spokesman Eifion Huws today welcomed the thrust of a Commons' Early Day Motion (EDM) sponsored by Plaid MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Jonathan Edwards and already signed by four more Welsh MPs - Martin Caton (Lab) Gower; Elfyn Llwyd (Plaid) Dwyfor Meirionnydd; Hywel Williams (Plaid) Arfon; and Mark Williams (Lib Dem) Ceredigion.

The EDM, also signed by three MPs representing urban areas of England, welcomes the recently-published EU Dairy Package which establishes "clear and sensible" rules for price determination in milk contracts for farmers supplying a dairy other than a co-operative.

However, the EDM expresses concern that explicit provisions for minimum terms in contracts are left to member states to choose to implement and that the UK proposes a voluntary code.

"Dairy farmers are often adversely affected by poor contracts. They may be required to give 12 or more months' notice to pull out but the price the farmer is paid can be changed at will by the processor without notice," said Mr Huws.

"We support the EDM and, like the MPs who have signed it, we believe Government action is required to eliminate unreasonable contractual practices and create fairer and more balanced terms.

"The FUW calls for the introduction of legislation on this matter in any forthcoming plans to appoint a groceries and milk ombudsman."

Pembrokeshire pupils are being invited to enter a photographic competition organised by the county’s Farmers’ Union of Wales branch and sponsored by local organic milk producers Trioni Ltd.

The branch is asking children to take photographs in Pembrokeshire depicting one of three categories - Farm Life, The Countryside and Wildlife.

FUW Pembrokeshire county vice chairman Hywel Vaughan, who launched the competition at Maenclochog C P School, said: “The competition is open to children aged between 4 and 18 and will be judged in two age categories: 4-11 and 12-18.

“The photographs taken by the winner and runner-up of each category and age group will be made into a 2013 calendar which will be sold in aid of the FUW president’s charity Cancer Research Wales.”

The winner of each category will receive a £15 gift voucher for themselves, a copy of the calendar featuring their photograph, one day’s free admittance to the 2012 Pembrokeshire County Show to receive their prizes and a £25 cheque for their school.

The runner-up of each category will receive a £10 gift voucher for themselves, a copy of the calendar featuring their photograph, one day’s free admittance to the 2012 Pembrokeshire County Show to receive their prizes and a £15 cheque for their school.

The winning and runners-up entries, together with a selection of other entries, will be displayed at the FUW marquee during the Show on August 14-16.

The closing date for entries to the competition is Friday May 25.

The pupil’s name, class number, school name and entry category must be included on all entries which should be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or posted or delivered to the FUW County Office, 3 North Street, Haverfordwest, SA61 2JE, and marked “Schools Competition.

Welsh farmers will be extremely disappointed that the Chancellor ignored mounting pressure to cut fuel duty in his Budget and approved a 3.02 pence per litre increase that will take effect as planned on August 1.

"The biggest expense for farmers and anyone else living in rural areas is fuel costs so it is extremely disappointing that this Budget will do little to help businesses in our rural communities," said Farmers' Union of Wales business development director Emyr James.

"The Chancellor's decision to ignore widespread demands for a cut in fuel duty means that, according to Automobile Association figures, UK diesel prices remain the second highest in Europe and in Wales, at an average of 145.9p, they are the second highest in the UK.

"Fuel costs are unavoidable and are becoming more and more difficult to bear for those living and working in rural areas," Mr James added.

Another glaring omission in the Budget was its failure to announce any investment plans to boost rural broadband coverage.

"The Chancellor did announce up to £12 million to deliver ultra-fast broadband to Cardiff and an additional £50m for a second wave of 'super-connected' cities across the UK but he has failed to mention anything about improving broadband services in rural areas.

"Farmers are increasingly forced to use the internet for sending a variety of information such as VAT and income tax returns and registering cattle movements yet broadband services remain either non-existent or extremely slow in many parts of rural Wales," Mr James said.