The Farmers’ Union of Wales today welcomed the National Assembly’s large majority vote in support of a north Pembrokeshire badger cull but has slammed anti-cull AMs for misleading statements made during the debate at the Senedd.

FUW member and north Pembrokeshire farmer Brian Thomas, who attended the debate, said: “The overwhelming support for the policy is welcome, and gives a clear sign that the majority of AMs are prepared to grasp the nettle and act responsibly regarding a severe disease crisis, despite misleading campaigns by animal rights activists.

“However, I was stunned by the inaccuracy and misleading nature of some of the statements made by those proposing the motion to stop the cull, and it is a disgrace that such statements were made in our National Assembly chamber.”

AMs Peter Black, Lorraine Barrett, Irene James and Jenny Randerson had tabled a motion to annul The Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2011. It was rejected by 42 votes to 8.

“Mr Black quoted what he described as the latest data published by the Independent Science Group in February 2010," said Mr Thomas.

“Yet that group was disbanded almost four years ago, and he chose to quote data and conclusions which he knows were superseded and corrected in July 2010."

Mr Thomas said that this was just one of a series of totally misleading statements made by the anti-cull AMs.

“People have a perfect right to object to culling on whatever grounds they see fit, but for Assembly Members to mislead the National Assembly, whether by accident or otherwise, is disgraceful.

“It is not too much to ask that those who are elected to rule Wales are properly briefed. If Assembly Members receive figures from groups such as Pembrokeshire Against the Cull, which has admitted giving out untruthful and unsubstantiated information in the past, they should be astute enough to check their facts before speaking in our Assembly."

Mr Thomas also hit out at rock star Brian May for his involvement in the anti-cull campaign.

“Brian May describes TB as a ‘‘virus’’. This is so inaccurate it is like describing cattle as a species of fish, and shows that everything else he says should be taken with a massive pinch of salt.

“People who have strong views and are obsessed with single issues tend to be blinkered when it comes to looking at the facts and inevitable get things seriously wrong.

“Thankfully, the majority of AMs have taken a step back, properly assessed the evidence, and supported the cull.”

The Farmers' Union of Wales has strongly opposed plans by the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) to extend the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and will continue to lobby the case at a special meeting with representatives of the council in Llangollen on March 28.

At this meeting CCW will decide whether or not to send its proposals to the Welsh Assembly Government for the final decision and FUW Denbighshire and Flintshire counties executive officer Marian Jones and the union's Denbighshire branch president Glyn Jones will deliver a presentation on their objections.

In its response to CCW's draft designation order consultation the union objected to the plans, fearing that sustainable development, both on-farm and within rural communities, will be stifled by further planning controls applied to designated areas.

Given the number of existing designations in the area, the union strongly believes that any further designation would only serve to increase the bureaucracy and red tape endured by farmers.

Mr Jones said: "It has long been recognised that farming has helped to create and maintain the landscape in this area of Wales and it is the farming systems employed by generations of farmers which have created these cherished landscapes that attract numerous visitors to the area every year.

"Rather than considering further designation, we believe that more effort should be made to encourage a partnership approach to conservation through positive policies, such as agri-environment schemes, encouraging diversification and working with rural people."

The union's response also highlighted concerns that the stricter planning controls would adversely impact on the family farms within the area.

"Succession is an on-going concern within the farming industry with a lack of young people willing to take on the management of farms. Stricter planning controls within the AONB will only compound these problems," added Mr Jones.

[caption id="attachment_4274" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Bedwyr Jones[/caption]

THE Farmers' Union of Wales' official candidate, Bedwyr Jones of Gwastadanas Farm, Nant Gwynant, near Beddgelert, has won the British Wool Marketing Board's (BWMB) North Wales regional seat election. 

Mr Jones received 11,386 votes - 1,827 more than the runner-up in a four-cornered poll - compared to second-placed Huw Evans' 9,559 votes. Two other FUW members - Steven Smith, of Castle Caereinion, near Welshpool (5,783 votes) and John Foulkes, of Penymynydd, Anglesey (3,063) - were third and fourth respectively. 

Mr Jones, a 39-year-old beef and sheep farmer, is the current chairman of BWMB's Welsh regional committee. 

He has been farming in partnership with his wife Helen at Gwastadanas Farm since 1996 when they were successful with their application for the tenancy of the 3,000-acre farm on the side of Snowdon. 

They inherited a flock of 1,600 Welsh Mountain ewes and 14 suckler cows when they moved in to Gwastadanas. They then bought Bodrwnsiwn Farm, Ty Croes, on Anglesey in 2002, a 200-acre lowland farm, after which their livestock numbers increased to 2,000 breeding Welsh Mountain ewes and 400 New Zealand Romney X ewes. 

All ram lambs are either fattened or sold as breeding rams in the popular annual sale held at Gwastadanas when around 50 Welsh Mountain rams and 20 New Zealand Romney rams are sold. Some cross ewe lambs are sold on for breeding purposes whilst the rest are either fattened or kept within the breeding flock at home. 

Bedwyr Jones is a sheep man through and through. He was brought up on the family farm in Cerrigellgwm Isaf, Ysbyty Ifan, near Betws y Coed, where he and his brothers were given an excellent grounding in farming by their father Hywel Jones. 

Bedwyr set up a successful sheep contracting business at a very young age, and later helped the BWMB with their wool press project which looked into the haulage costs of transporting wool around the country. 

For the last seven years Bedwyr has represented Caernarfonshire on the BWMB and has been chairman of the Welsh regional committee for just under two years. 

He is also chairman of the Prenteg branch of the FUW and is vice chairman of the union's central upland and marginal land committee. He has also been chairman of Beddgelert School's board of governors.

Welcoming the election result, FUW president Gareth Vaughan said: "I am well aware that Bedwyr is keen to represent North Wales on the BWMB's central committee, and will work towards ensuring that the establishment works efficiently to the benefit of all wool producers in obtaining the best price possible.

"He will also concentrate his efforts on ensuring effective collection of all wool produced in North Wales in an attempt to lower the costs of the BWMB to a minimum."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed the Chancellor's acceptance of the union's recent demands on him to scrap plans for a 4p fuel duty hike next month and introduce a fair fuel stabiliser scheme without further delay.

"For once, we are pleased that the Chancellor has heeded the demands of farmers living in rural Wales seriously affected by the current surge in inflation," said FUW president Gareth Vaughan.

"We had genuine concerns that motorists in Welsh rural communities would see prices rise by an extra five pence per litre (ppl) or almost 23p per gallon at the pumps next month.

"So the Chancellor's Budget announcement to cut fuel duty by 1p immediately and introduce a fair fuel stabiliser is welcome. But we also note with interest his admission in the Budget Speech that this will not end the pressure on family budgets.

"When I urged the Chancellor in January to scrap next month's fuel duty increase and introduce a fair fuel stabiliser scheme, prices for unleaded petrol across Wales were already reported to be running at £1.32ppl and up to five pence more for diesel.

"I believe that we had by then reached a critical point at which action must be taken to significantly reduce fuel tax in order to aid the economy.

"The FUW is very much in favour of the early introduction of a fair fuel stabiliser, where duty is cut when oil prices soar and goes up again when prices fall, as this will be much fairer on rural dwellers.

"Bearing in mind that there is a difference of as much as five pence per litre between rural and city garages in Wales already, any added fuel duty coupled with rising oil prices is devastating to rural communities all over the UK.

"It is grossly unfair that we here in the UK pay far more for our fuel than any other country and the fault lies with the extortionate level of tax imposed by the Government," said Mr Vaughan.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed a decision by badger campaigners Pembrokeshire Against the Cull (PAC) not to repeat misleading claims in a leaflet distributed to homes in the county and published on the internet.

The decision comes after a complaint by the FUW triggered an eight-month investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). PAC has since agreed not to repeat the advertisement and to amend problematic claims in line with the ASA's Advertising Code.

FUW TB spokesman Brian Walters described the decision as a "welcome U-turn". He added: "It is unfortunate that it took an eight-month investigation and the publication of a draft ruling by the ASA for PAC to finally cave in and admit that they published misleading claims, but we are glad they have finally conceded.

"PAC's decision to accept they were wrong means the ASA has allowed the complaint to be closed informally, saving PAC the embarrassment of being ruled against in a formal adjudication."

The original leaflet - which has now been removed from PAC's website - claimed that "2 ½ years after the [badger] cull finishes, this benefit [the reduction of bTB] disappears"; that "WAG's cattle measures are inadequate, and it has signally [sic] failed to address the most important route of infection, cattle-to-cattle"; that "there are no plans to control the movement of cattle within, into or out of the [north Pembrokeshire culling] area based on TB risk"; and that "Vaccination will help with TB eradication, culling will not".

"The FUW provided scientific evidence demonstrating why these statements breached Committee of Advertising Practice Code clauses on Truthfulness and Substantiation," said Mr Walters.

"The ASA agreed with us, and PAC has now been forced to admit they were wrong.

"This gives out a clear message to politicians and the public that messages issued by single issue groups established to protect badgers need to be taken with a massive pinch of salt.

"Pembrokeshire Against the Cull is a newly established organisation with only one objective, and as far as I am aware they were previously indifferent to the nightmare TB epidemic which has faced Pembrokeshire farmers for decades.

"Conversely, the Farmers' Union of Wales has been involved in the science of bTB for more than 50 years, and our views have been established following careful gathering and consideration of all the scientific evidence over a period of decades.

"We don't want to see either badgers or cattle being culled, but when you are faced with a massive disease epidemic in both animals you have to take action."

The Farmers' Union of Wales has welcomed the Welsh Assembly Government's acceptance of the bulk of recommendations by the independent group's review of the controversial Glastir agri-environment scheme but raised concerns that the part acceptance of some options and the seeming lack of urgency about an urgent review of the payment rates will reduce the flexibility of the scheme to future applicants.

FUW president Gareth Vaughan said the union was disappointed that some of the group's recommendations which would have introduced a greater degree of flexibility into the scheme had been rejected wholly or in part although there is much to welcome.

"We are genuinely concerned that the main opportunities provided by the package of 69 recommendations put together by Rees Roberts' review group, which represented a way of making the scheme more attractive to farmers, could be jeopardized due to delays in reviewing the costings.

"Until the costings more accurately reflect reality, the scheme is not going to be that attractive to farmers. We now fear that the costings exercise, which was considered urgent by the group, is going to take a while to complete.

"We are also disappointed that the opportunity to re-visit the all-important LFA element of the scheme has only been accepted in part."