Items donated by Dwyfor-Meirionnydd's MP and AM are high on the list of desirables for a promise auction to raise funds for the Wales Air Ambulance service which is Farmers' Union of Wales president Gareth Vaughan's chosen charity this year.

Elfyn Llwyd has offered a tour of the Houses of Parliament with a meal for two and National Assembly presiding officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas will do the same at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.

The event, which takes place on Friday evening September 3 on FUW deputy president Emyr Jones' family farm at Rhiwaedog, near Bala, will also include a Hog Roast and live entertainment.

Tickets at £6 are available from the FUW's county office in Dolgellau by phoning 01341 422298 or via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The event follows a farm walk during the afternoon arranged by the British Grassland Society in conjunction with the FUW and sponsored by Hybu Cig Cymru and Farming Connect.

"Mr Jones and his two sons won the 2008 British Grassland Society's National Grassland Management competition and the farm is noted for the excellence of its farming enterprise," said FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

Lunch and the farm walk is free for those registering in advance with the British Grassland Society on 02476 696600 or via e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Major crop failures in the Black Sea region and the natural disaster currently devastating Pakistan should focus EU Commission thinking on food security, according to Farmers' Union of Wales' Meirionnydd county chairman Robert Wyn Evans.

Speaking today (Wednesday August 25) at the Merioneth County Show in Harlech, he said adverse weather had led to Russia's barley crop being at its lowest level in 40 years, forcing the country to ban grain exports.

In Pakistan, severe flooding has resulted in the loss of more than 200,000 livestock and 700,000 hectares of crops being submerged or destroyed.

"While our hearts go out to those affected by the terrible natural disaster in Pakistan, the recent impact of severe weather on harvests should come as a stark warning to Europe that we must ensure a vibrant agricultural sector," said Mr Evans.

"In the coming months, important decisions will be made about the future of agriculture in the EU after 2013. If those decisions do not recognise the importance of EU food and crop production, this is likely to lead to an increased reliance on countries outside the EU.

"That would not be acceptable and the recent collapses in production in major crop producing areas of the world, coupled with the decision by Russia to ban exports to protect its own people, demonstrate the danger of relying increasingly on other countries."

The EU is currently considering the future of the Common Agricultural Policy after 2013, and some fear that financial pressures within the EU will lead to agriculture and rural communities being sidelined.

Meanwhile, fears of a repeat of 2008's global food shortages have led to significant volatility in grain prices. However, market analysts have attempted to calm fears by claiming that global supplies are sufficient to meet demand.

"We do not yet know whether these severe losses in crop production will lead to the type of global food crisis seen in 2007 and 2008 but policy makers who ignore the these warning signs place every European citizen in danger," Mr Evans added.

"Food is a commodity we cannot do with out. In a world with a growing population and increased risks of severe weather Europe must have a Common Agricultural Policy which recognises this.

"The FUW firmly believes that protection of the family farm should be at the heart of the Common Agricultural Policy, and that this is the key to ensuring sustainable European agriculture and food production."

The Farmers' Union of Wales' Meirionnydd branch today (Wednesday August 25) appealed to farmers to take advantage of the Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) new scheme to assist those hit by difficulties obtaining broadband reception.

The £2m funding scheme, announced early last month, offers support up to a maximum of £1,000 for individual premises.

FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Robert Wyn Evans said it was important for members to be aware of this scheme as there were many broadband "not-spots" in the county and many other parts of rural Wales.

The union has already assisted members in the Cwmtirmynach, Bala area who are preparing quotations to accompany the completed application forms to WAG.

Mr Evans said broadband was now becoming essential to farmers with so many requiring the facility for reporting cattle movements, completion of VAT returns and many other services.

"Many see access to the internet as critical for living and working in rural areas such as Meirionnydd, and we warmly welcome this initiative from the Assembly Government," Mr Evans added.

He also revealed that FUW county branch staff would assist members with the scheme's booklets and information at its stand at today's (Wednesday August 25) Merioneth County Show in Harlech.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed a Welsh Assembly Government decision to extend the deadline by three weeks for farmers to apply to join the All-Wales Element of the new Glastir agri-environment scheme after recently adding an additional option within the scheme.

"Obviously, we welcome the decision to move the deadline forward but in reality it will create even more confusion for farmers trying to come to terms with an already complicated scheme," said the FUW's land use committee chairman Richard Vaughan, of Tywyn, Meirionnydd.

"We feel strongly that such confusion could have been avoided. We have lobbied long and hard, stressing that Glastir was far too hastily drawn up without enough consideration given to how practical it would be for farmers.

"We have repeatedly called for all the details to be properly put in place before the scheme was opened so that this inevitable confusion could have been avoided. This latest deferment just adds to the conflicting advice circulating within the farming community."

Application packs will now be issued from October 4 and farmers will have until November 22 to return their completed application form.

Young farmer Neil Perkins' decision to convert his family's beef and sheep farm to a low-cost sheep business financially successful in an environment without subsidies has helped him reap the Farmers' Union of Wales Pembrokeshire branch's Countryside Award.

One of the judges, FUW county president Dafydd Williams, said: "The winner demonstrated a clear vision of what he wished to do following a visit to New Zealand on a Nuffield scholarship. His father agreed and their plan was supported by their landlords, the National Trust."

Mr Perkins, 30, of Dinas Island Farm, Newport, Pembrokeshire, said: "Farming has always been a passion of mine and an industry I have always wanted to be involved with. Having grown up helping my father on the farm I then went to study agriculture at the Welsh Agricultural College in Aberystwyth.

"After a couple of years there I returned home to work on the farm full time. I then wanted to take the business a step forward which gave me the incentive to apply for a Nuffield farming scholarship with the intention of bringing the farm into the modern era of agriculture.

"My aim is to produce lamb profitably off a low input grass-based system without subsidies and be able to market the lambs on the back of this."

Mr Williams agreed that Mr Perkins has a clear understanding of the industry as it moves into a period of much lower financial support from Government. "He is convinced that finance for business investment should be generated by the business in advance of expenditure and that current surpluses resulting from the Single Farm Payment should be invested elsewhere.

"He is also strongly committed to disseminating the information he acquired in New Zealand and showing how it can be practiced in Wales."

Mr Perkins was nominated for the Countryside Award by Future Farmers of Wales (FFW) chairman Rhys Lougher who stated: "Neil is an outstanding example of a professional young farmer.

"He has taken time away from the business to study agriculture through college and more recently on global travel through the Nuffield Scholarship. He has transferred this new knowledge back into practical ways of improving his family farm.

"Dinas Island farm is now well noted for the quality of the sheep stock and its high standards of grassland management. Neil also plays a key role in the wider agricultural community of West Wales and in developing other young farmers through his work and involvement in the Future Farmers of Wales Club of which he will be chairman for 2011/2012."

Mr Perkins, who became director of the family farm business in 2002, is married to Lynda and they have three children Osian (7), Chloe (6) and Sion (2). In 2005 he was a finalist in the Lantra land-based learner of the year competition and a finalist in last year's Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales "Face of Welsh Lamb" competition.

He will be presented with the award, £100 and one year's free membership of the FUW in the Grand Arena at the Pembrokeshire County Show at 2.15pm on Tuesday, August 17.

Narberth community primary school pupils have swept the board in a Farmers' Union of Wales competition based on farming which was held for schools in Pembrokeshire.

The winners of the three categories and their school will be presented with their prizes at noon on Wednesday August 18 in the FUW marquee (stand number B36) during the Pembrokeshire County Show.

The competition, launched in June when the FUW's Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Williams wrote to all schools in the county, attracted 277 entries and was sponsored by Carmarthen & Pumsaint Farmers' Ltd, J E Lawrence & Son Ltd and the county's FUW 200+ Club.

Category 1 was won by Gwenllian Evans for her hand drawing of a farm scene; Category 2 was won by Anna Phillips and Sali Lewis who submitted a joint entry of a model of a sheep and the winner of Category 3 was Finley Griffiths for his poem entitled "The Farm".

FUW county chairman Dai Miles, who was also one of the judges, said: "All the judges were very impressed with the high standard of entries in all three categories of the competition and we had a very difficult task in choosing the winners."

The winner of each category will receive a £10 gift voucher and a goody bag for themselves, with a cheque for £30, together with £40 worth of Carmarthen & Pumsaint Farmers' Ltd vouchers, being presented to their school for use in developing their school garden.

The head teacher of Narberth CP School Edna Davies, who will be attending the presentation of prizes, was thrilled with her winning pupils and all of those who had taken part. She said the competition had fitted in well with a project which the school had been undertaking about farming during the last school year.

The winning entries and all of the other entries will be on display at the FUW marquee throughout the show.