The trauma of witnessing 23 cattle including six calves shot dead in a pen on their farm due to bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has forced a distressed Monmouthshire couple to consider selling the rest of their herd and keep sheep instead.

With the December 17 deadline looming for views on the Welsh Assembly Government's proposed badger cull in an intensive action area in north Pembrokeshire, Farmers' Union of Wales members Rhys and Judith Parry, of Penterry Farm, St Arvans, near Chepstow, recalled their recent harrowing experiences when a number of their cattle failed a third TB test.

"When you load cattle on to a lorry to be sent off for slaughter you feel as though you've done the best for them. But it's hard to reconcile that with witnessing them being shot by contractors in a pen on the farm," said Mrs Parry.

"Following two clear tests, our latest TB test was on September 27. It showed 22 cattle as reactors or inconclusive and after cultures were taken for analysis we were told that the animals would be taken for slaughter.

"However, due to the fact that the cows were very heavy in calf, it was decided that an on-farm slaughter would take place. This was carried out on October 14 when 13 cows, four yearlings and six two and three-month-old calves were shot in the pen.

"The whole procedure was so traumatic. We feel that not enough emphasis is given to the stress placed upon farmers at times like this and, more particularly, the stressful way in which the animals had to be slaughtered.

"After the first one was killed there was obviously a great deal of panic amongst the remaining cattle. Some of the cows were very heavy in calf and, in fact, one of them had calved the previous night.

"The result now is that there are eight young calves that had to be hand reared and three cows that have had their calves taken from them."

The Parrys' 400-acre traditional organic farm carries approximately 350 head of cattle. It has been organic for a considerable number of years and therefore is, like the vast majority of Welsh farms, not run intensively.

"The fact that we had gone through two clear tests is important because, following those tests, the cattle were placed in a field which we know is close to badger setts in the nearby woods," said Mr Parry. "We are now very, very reluctant to put any cattle into this block of land.

"The bulk of our land is surrounded by woods and we have been so distressed by this latest episode that we are seriously considering changing our farming policy by selling the cattle and replacing them with sheep."

Normally they run a closed herd of 85 suckler cows plus followers and some bought-in organic store cattle for fattening but due to the recent outbreak of TB they are now down to around 50 cows. The majority of the cows are Limousin-Cross and are put to a Limousin bull.

According to the Welsh Assembly Government's website, bovine TB is a chronic, debilitating, infectious disease of cattle, badgers and many other mammals, including humans. In parts of Wales the disease has escalated over the past 25 years to unsustainable levels, placing a huge financial burden on government, taxpayers and farmers.

The WAG is committed to eradicating bTB in Wales by tackling all sources of the disease. The cost to the taxpayer in compensation to cattle keepers has increased dramatically over the past 10 years and since 2000 over £100 million has been spent on compensation alone.

FUW's bTB spokesman Brian Walters said: “We should be in no doubt that there are many members of the public who will respond negatively to the proposed north Pembrokeshire badger cull consultation but they are completely unaffected by this terrible disease, and have been lulled by wildlife groups into believing culling does not work and is futile.

“It is, therefore, important that farmers make their support for the cull known to WAG, as it is they who are directly affected by TB, and are on the front line in the battle against the disease.

“We have a pre-formatted response to the consultation which can be accessed and sent via our website at www.fuw.org.uk and those without web access can contact their local FUW office.”

The Farmers' Union of Wales announced today that tomorrows' meeting of the Grand Council of the Union has been cancelled due to severe weather conditions.

FUW Director of Administration, Peter Davies, said: "Due to the severe weather we have been facing over the last week and taking the weather forecast into consideration, the Union has decided to cancel the meeting of the Grand Council at Aberystwyth ."

The Farmers' Union of Wales has highlighted key concerns relating to the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013 during a meeting with Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones.

During the meeting at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair, the union told the minister that, aside from major concerns regarding overarching issues such as the CAP budget and ensuring a fairer share for Wales, it was essential that the final agreement allowed Wales to operate a system which was equitable for Welsh farm businesses.

Speaking after the meeting, FUW President Gareth Vaughan said: "The minister is well aware of our concerns regarding the broad issues of the CAP budget, ensuring that agriculture remains the focus of the CAP, and the need for a slow transition to flat-rate payments.

"However, it is also important that Wales is not backed into a corner by the details of the regulations which come into force after 2013.

"We therefore urged the minister to ensure that the options available allow Wales to distribute payments to farm businesses in a way which minimises disruption for family farms of all sizes and types within Wales."

With the current historically based Single Payment system expected to be gradually replaced after 2013 by some form of flat-rate payment per hectare, the union's concerns highlight the dangers of being lumbered with a system which could cause massive disruption for the Welsh industry.

"Research published by the union in 2009 identified the damage that an overly simplistic flat-rate payment system would cause for Welsh farming families, and we therefore need CAP regulations which allow a flexible system which minimises disruption."

The union also highlighted the fact that it retained an open mind to the issue of capping or tapering direct payments.

"It would not be in the interests of Welsh farmers for us to close our minds to the possible merits of capping or tapering payments before scrutinising the detailed analyses of possible payment models which the minister has assured us will be undertaken over the coming months."

Also high on the agenda was the need for a simplified CAP and equitable penalty system for both farmers and Member States.

"The current system is disgraceful in the way that genuine errors can lead to massive penalties for farmers, and the draconian fines that can apply to Member States or regions due to the authorities and the EU auditors interpreting regulations differently.

"The current system means that authorities which behave in a moral way can be penalised for being perceived as not interpreting rules properly, yet in many cases the rules are ambiguous, and the Commission will not provide clear guidance on specific interpretations.

"The post 2013 CAP regulations should ensure that both farmers and the authorities are treated fairly, and that the penalties applied at all levels are proportionate."

The proposed five-year badger cull in north Pembrokeshire could slash heartbreaking bovine TB herd outbreaks by between 68 and 81 and that could easily be an underestimate, the Farmers' Union of Wales revealed at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair today.

The figures were included in the union's response to a Welsh Assembly Government consultation paper on badger culling in the area which includes 321 farms with cattle.

Computer modelling based upon the results of previous badger culls predicts that a cull in north Pembrokeshire could reduce confirmed herd outbreaks by between 30 and 44 during a five year culling period, and by around 38 in the four years afterwards.

The results form part of the FUW's comprehensive evidence supporting WAG's proposals, in which the union makes it clear that those who believe badger culling doesn't work are "by definition, wrong".

FUW vice president and bTB spokesman Brian Walters said: "The bottom line is that if badger culling wasn't going to work, then we wouldn't be supporting it.

"The fact of the matter is that all the evidence shows it works, and there is no other proven method which would have such a dramatic effect on TB incidences in the area.

"The bTB breakdown rate in the intensive action area (IAA) is one of the highest in the northern hemisphere, and the disease desperately needs to be dealt with in the area to minimise the risk to other mammals including humans."

The response highlights the fact that the badger culling in the Irish Four Counties trials led to a 60-96% decrease in the rate at which herds became the subject of confirmed bTB restriction and that, in the four years after culling came to an end in the English Badger Culling Trial areas, incidences were reduced in and around proactive culling areas by 34.1% and 5.6% respectively.

The latter equates to around 155 confirmed herd breakdowns being prevented in and around the ten English culling areas between June 2006 and July 2010.

The FUW's response also makes a number of points in relation to specific questions raised in the WAG consultation document including the use of an injectable vaccine, and access to land for culling.

"Modelling work recently produced by the Food and Environment Research Agency suggests that injecting badgers with vaccine could help reduce disease incidences in cattle, but that both ring vaccination around culling areas, and culling alone are likely to be more effective strategies," said Mr Walters.

"The work also suggests that an approach involving both culling and ring vaccination would require considerably more resources than culling alone.

"The FUW fully supports the development of an effective and safe oral vaccine for badgers as a means by which to reduce the prevalence of bTB in cattle and badgers and would support ring vaccination around culling areas where geographic boundaries are unlikely to reduce the adverse effects of perturbation."

Members also believed that the use of an injectable badger vaccine may be acceptable as an exit strategy in areas where culling has been undertaken and disease levels had been reduced to non-endemic levels, or to protect wildlife in an area which is free from bTB.

The union's response also provides its full backing for compulsory access to land in order to cull.

"It is illegal to prevent the culling of cattle which may pose a disease risk to other animals, and the same principle should apply for badgers," said Mr Walters.

"Objections to culling during the English culling trials had an adverse impact on the results of those trials since not all land could be accessed for culling.

"Minimising such disruption by specifically making obstruction illegal will therefore increase the positive benefits of badger culling and help ensure that the anonymity of those who consent to culling on their land is preserved."

A Monmouthshire student who has won the Farmers' Union of Wales annual £700 student bursary today called for agriculture to be taught in schools from primary level in a bid to improve the image of an industry in which the average age of a farmer in Wales is 59.

Nineteen-year-old Phillippa Maidment, who has just started a rural property management course at Harper Adams University College in Shropshire, made the demand in a 1,000-word essay submitted with her bursary application.

She was presented with her bursary cheque on the FUW stand at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair when a second bursary of £200 was also handed to another Harper Adams student, 18-year-old Sion Gwynedd Roberts, of Simdde Hir, Llannefydd, near Denbigh, who is studying agricultural engineering.

A third bursary of £100 was presented to 18-year-old Aberystwyth University student Gwyn Pierce, of Gelli-Haf, Llangyndeyrn, Carmarthenshire, who is studying agriculture with animal science.

Apart from being a keen member of her local young farmers' club, Phillippa's family has no direct link to farming.

Entitled "What should the Welsh farming industry and government do to attract more young people into agriculture?", her essay suggested that as too few young people are choosing a career in agriculture there could be drastic effects on the farming industry.

"As the majority of farmers are members of the older generation there is lack of new ideas coming into agriculture. This could be preventing farmers from increasing their income," wrote Phillippa, whose home is at Undy, near Caldicot.

In her essay, she stated: "One major problem restricting the younger generation from being part of the farming industry is that it currently has a very negative profile.

"If you ask most young people for their opinion on farming the common response is that it provides a low income, long hours and is hard work. Another problem is that the younger generation do not have the opportunity to take part and get the feel of farm life unless they are from a farming background.

"As a young person myself, if I was not a member of young farmers I would find it incredibly difficult to gain knowledge or experience on a farm. But how can this problem be addressed?

An obvious way to begin to tackle this problem would be to introduce agriculture in to the classroom from an early age, starting at primary school level. Children need to learn the basic farm animals and where their food comes from.

"A fun and exciting way to do this is by providing farm visits. In Wales there are community farms, such as Greenmeadow Community Farm in Cwmbran which provides children with a hands-on educational experience, which is fun and very interesting for all.

"However, not all communities are lucky enough to have an open farm due to the costs of implementing health and safety regulations. One way in which the government could help overcome this issue is by providing farmers with grants and resources to enable them to cater for groups of school children and comply with health and safety regulations.

"Once these children have completed primary school they will have valuable knowledge on agriculture as a whole. This needs to be maintained and improved when they move to comprehensive school.

"Schools could provide pupils from non-farming backgrounds with agricultural experience through a youth learning scheme. Schemes similar to this are already offered for trades such as bricklaying and plastering and have seen great accomplishment. This could also be true of farming.

"I understand it would be tough to get farmers to accept this and having young people on their farm could be daunting. However, if young people aren't given the chance then they will never learn."

FUW president Gareth Vaughan praised all 23 applicants for the high standards of their written submissions which were based on climate change challenges for farming and food production in Wales; how to attract more young people into agriculture; and how to give the Welsh farming industry a higher public profile.

"The panel of three judges were very impressed by the fresh ideas, expressed so clearly by many of the applicants to overcome the challenges that are currently facing Welsh farming," Mr Vaughan added.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today launched the first of a number of detailed consultations with members over the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013, following the European Commission's publication of broad proposals earlier this month.

The consultation asks FUW county branch committees to consider the two issues of capping Single Payments and possible ways of distributing Pillar 1 payments within Wales.

Launching the consultation at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair, the FUW's president Gareth Vaughan said: "Pillar 1 payments represent the injection of hundreds of millions of pounds into Welsh rural communities each year, and the European Commission have made a number of broad recommendations as to how money should be distributed after 2013.

"Included amongst these are the suggestion that payments to businesses might be capped, and I believe that it is essential that we gather the views of members on this and other possible payment options, rather than dismissing the Commission's proposals out of hand."

The Commission has proposed that the current system, where Welsh payments are based on historic claims made in the years 2000 to 2002, should be phased out in favour of a flat-rate per hectare basis.

However, they have also suggested that a ceiling or cap should apply for large payments, which could also take account of number of employees on particular farms.

"During the 2007 Health Check negotiations, the Union successfully argued in favour of keeping our historically based payment system. However, the movement to a flat or flatter rate payment system is by now inevitable.

"It is therefore essential that we consider all possible options, including capping, and lobby for flexibility from Europe to implement a system which best suits Wales's farming industry and takes account of the needs of farms in different regions of Wales.

"As a democratic union, it is only right that we conduct a rolling consultation with members on important issues such as these."