Members of the Farmers’ Union of Wales throughout Meirionnydd have donated nearly £1,000 to provide the prose medal and the winner’s £750 prize-money at the National Eisteddfod in Bala this week (August 1-8).

The prose medal ceremony takes place at 4.30pm on Wednesday, August 5 and competitors were requested to submit a volume of work with "texture" as its theme.

"We sent a letter out to members seeking contributions for this very prestigious prize and the cash just rolled in," said FUW’s Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

"I am extremely grateful for all their contributions towards one of the eisteddfod’s top awards and we hope it goes to a very worthy winner."

A warm welcome awaits members, supporters and friends at the FUW stand (No 641-642) on the Maes where a host of events will be staged throughout the week.

"The stand is situated in a convenient spot near the main pavilion and is an excellent chance to call in for a cup of tea and a chat at the same time as enjoying the numerous displays and events we have organised," said Mr Jones.

Throughout the week keen eisteddfodwyr Aeryn Jones, of Dinmael, near Corwen, will be showing items from his collection of old agricultural tools which will sure to be a major talking point.

Also, there will be a photographic exhibition of FUW members by Chris Clunn, a professional photographer who now lives in Maentwrog.

"The photographs are only a small example of Chris’s work and interest and he would be more than happy to visit and photograph other union members within Merioneth any time in the future," said Mr Jones.

On Monday and Wednesday, Rhian Owen, from Aberdyfi, will be present on the stand to show how to cut up a lamb. Rhian works full time in her family’s shop, Cigydd Aberdyfi, and won the title of Young Butcher of the Year throughout Wales in 2006.

The shop was bought by her father, FUW member Dewi Owen and family, Esgairgyfela Farm, Aberdyfi, in 2005 and they clinched one of the True Taste awards in 2007.

On Wednesday, Aled Owen, Penyfed, Ty Nant, near Corwen, an expert in the field of sheepdog trials will visit the stand. He has won numerous prizes as a trialist, including the world championship in 2002 and 2008.

On Thursday, there will be a special visit by a local girl who became famous recently. Elin Haf Davies was part of the first female crew to sail across the Indian Ocean last month.

The girls, who call themselves the "Ocean Angels", were the first crew to row 3,720 miles across the Indian Ocean from Australia to Mauritius, taking 79 days to do so.

"They have raised a considerable amount of money for the Breast Cancer Care charity and people will have a further opportunity to donate to this important charity during Elin’s visit," said Mr Jones

Also on Wednesday, Gwenan Pawee, originally from Llwyngwgan Farm, near Llangwm, will demonstrate the craft of wool spinning and this again is sure to attract much interest.

Leaflets and information about the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) charity will also be available throughout the week to explain the work that it does and the help that is available to agricultural families.

"This charity receives the FUW’s full support and every attempt is made to help in any way," Mr Jones added.

Freelance agricultural journalist Meyrick Brown is the Farmers’ Union of Wales Agricultural Journalist of the Year for 2009.

Meyrick, of Rhosgranog House, Llandeloy, Haverfordwest, has a lifetime’s practical experience of dairy, beef and arable farming, drawing on his depth of knowledge to become a highly respected journalist covering a range of topical issues and farming industry developments, as well as highlighting farmer success stories.

He writes regularly for the Western Mail and Carmarthen Journal, provides a weekly column for the Observer series in Pembrokeshire and contributes to the Pembrokeshire Farmer, Pembrokeshire Life and Farmers Guardian. He has also assisted in TV and radio research.

In 2006 his "outstanding contribution to the promotion of agriculture in Pembrokeshire" was formally recognised and last year he received the Pembrokeshire Farmers Club Award "for services to agriculture".

Meyrick is married to Janet and the couple have two children - Helen, who is marketing manager for a company exporting medical products, and Angela, who is a ceramic artist and lecturer.

Announcing the winner, FUW president Gareth Vaughan said Meyrick was a very worthy candidate for the award.

"His aim is, and has always been, to widely promote all that is best in agriculture and to draw public attention to matters causing stress among vulnerable sectors of the industry."

The annual award - a shepherd’s crook - is usually produced by prize-winning Aberystwyth crook maker Hywel Evans but in a departure from tradition Meyrick’s crook was previously owned by S4C’s Cefn Gwlad presenter Dai Jones, Llanilar, who donated it to a recent auction and knocked it down to the highest bidder - a member of the FUW staff.

The auction followed a successful charity golf competition at Aberystwyth Golf Club and helped raise £6,000 towards Ceredigion’s host county appeal fund for next year’s Royal Welsh Show.

Westminster’s environment, food and rural affairs committee’s decision to examine the background and implications of Dairy Farmers of Britain’s (DFB) collapse was described today as a significant move towards answering Welsh dairy producers’ concerns.

“Many questions need answering following DFB’s demise which continues to have a devastating impact for hundreds of affected farmers and former employees of the cooperative,” said FUW milk committee chairman Eifion Huws.

“We therefore welcome this inquiry and plan to participate to clearly express our members’ numerous concerns about DFB’s demise.”

The committee will consider:

• the impact of DFB’s collapse on dairy farmers and the industry;
• the governance and accountability structures of DFB;
• Defra’s response to DFB’s collapse; and
• the causes and lessons to be learned from the collapse.

The committee has invited written submissions from interested parties by Monday August 31 and will accept further submissions after a receivers’ meeting on September 7. A programme of oral evidence will be announced in due course.

Anglesey farmer Mr Huws was a member of an FUW delegation that demanded such an inquiry during meetings with Defra minister Jim Fitzpatrick and members of all political parties.

Speaking after a meeting at the Royal Welsh show with Clwyd West MP David Jones to discuss the matter, Mr Huws added: “DFB’s failure created massive financial damage for farmers and employees throughout Wales and beyond with 1,800 farmers seriously affected.

“There is also grave concern that DFB’s receivers may still pursue some producers who had effectively underwritten the cooperative.

“We hope the inquiry will bring much needed clarity in terms of the events that led up to this catastrophic collapse.”

Mr Jones, whose constituency was one of the worst hit by the collapse, said: “A large number of questions arise as a consequence of the collapse of DFB and I am very pleased that the EFRA Select Committee has announced this important inquiry.”

Farmers’ Union of Wales leaders have met the Westminster food, farming and environment minister Jim Fitzpatrick and numerous Welsh MPs of all four main parties to discuss issues of concern to dairy farmers including the recent collapse of the Dairy Farmers of Britain farmers’ cooperative.

Lengthy discussions took place at separate meetings with the FUW which was represented by union president Gareth Vaughan, milk committee chairman Eifion Huws and two dairy farmers from Powys and Anglesey.

They met Anglesey MP Albert Owen, who organised a cross-party meeting, Mr Fitzpatrick and several other Welsh MPs. The other meeting, organised by shadow Welsh minister and Clwyd West MP David Jones, was also attended by shadow Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan.

The union delegation expressed their concerns about the future of the industry and pressed for an enquiry into the problems building up to the closure of Dairy Farmers of Britain. They were pleased to learn that Labour were in full support of keeping the Milk Quota in future.

Mr Vaughan felt the meetings had been very constructive and productive and was pleased discussions had also taken place into the possibility of an Ombudsman being appointed for the farming industry.

"We are extremely grateful to Mr Owen and Mr Jones for their support and for organising the meetings and are also appreciative to all the other MPs who attended and gave their valuable time to meet representatives from the union and dairy sector."

Mr Jones said later that the FUW delegation spent an hour discussing DFB’s failure and other issues of current concern, including electronic identification of sheep. "Many farmers in Wales and the north of England have lost large sums of money as a result of DFB’s collapse.

"Some are now facing heavy claims by the receivers under the terms of their guarantees. It is hard to see how the co-operative could have collapsed with such large debts without warning signs becoming apparent long before.

"I believe that an inquiry into DFB’s failure is called for and I will continue to press for one in Parliament."

THE Farmers’ Union of Wales will be on hand to give out Ordnance Survey (OS) grid references to Royal Welsh show visitors next week in an exercise that could mean the difference between life and death.

In a joint venture with Wales Air Ambulance, the FUW has produced cards with space for information such as a person’s home postcode and OS grid reference. The card can then be kept near the telephone at the home address to be used in an emergency.

Due to Wales’ scattered population and diverse landscape, many in Wales live in isolated locations far from an accident and emergency service and air ambulances can sometimes reach casualties far quicker than any other response team on the ground.

It is widely believed that a patient’s chances of survival and early recovery are increased if they receive the right care within the first hour, otherwise known as the Golden Hour.

The quick response times and the expert medical care provided by the Wales Air Ambulance crews across Wales ensure that this Golden Hour is achieved every time.

Issuing the cards was the brainchild of the FUW’s Caernarfonshire area officer Dafydd Jones, who lives in the remote village of Ysbyty Ifan, near Betws y Coed.

Following a talk with Tomos Hughes, of the Uwchaled first response team, the FUW printed the cards with the logo: " Ble Ydych Chi - Where are You" with a blank space to fill the post code and the Ordnance Survey grid reference.

Mr Jones said: "As people living in the countryside, especially in a remote part of Wales, we recognise the importance of the Air Ambulance service and also the region’s police helicopter service. They have become a major part of the emergency services’ response team.

"By now we all know of someone who has been in an unfortunate situation needing the service of the Air Ambulance, and if it wasn’t for their quick response and the shortening of travelling time some of those people would not be here today.

"Indeed, the fast response of these services can be the difference between life and death."

A Wales Air Ambulance spokesman said: "Wales Air Ambulance helps to save time, and save lives. You can help too by knowing your grid reference.

"Time really matters in an emergency and Wales Air Ambulance can reach any part of the country within 20 minutes. The grid reference initiative from the FUW will also raise awareness of the work our air ambulance crews do in remote farming areas."

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has accused the Prime Minister of lacking interest in the plight of Welsh sheep farmers after he refused to condemn the EU for deciding to introduce the compulsory electronic identification (EID) of sheep after 2010.

Nearly 400 farmers and politicians have signed a petition on the 10 Downing Street website urging Mr Brown to publicly condemn the EU for its decision which will place UK farmers at an unfair disadvantage compared with importers into the EU who only have to comply with standards well below those required of UK farmers.

The petition, in the name of FUW vice president Glyn Roberts, states that compulsory EID means that the increasing financial and practical burdens placed upon UK farmers will put them at a competitive disadvantage compared with importers into the EU.

Copies of the petition, which calls on the EU to reverse it decision, have been signed by a further 400 FUW members at the union’s 12 county offices throughout Wales.

The petition stresses the technology used for sheep EID has major flaws, including reliability, which brings into question the credibility of the decision.

It adds: "The Government should therefore fight for all the concessions permitted, while making it clear that the actions of the EC are premature, disproportionate, and unjust for the UK sheep industry."

But in a Government response to the petition the demand for the Prime Minister to publicly condemn the EU’s decision has been ignored.

The Government merely admits it is concerned about the disproportionate costs and benefits of individual recording and points out that it has asked the European Commission to review the appropriate Regulation to check whether its objectives are being met in the most cost effective way.

It adds that new rules were agreed in 2003 in a bid to phase in improvements to EU sheep identification and tracking arrangements following the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak.

"Defra has worked very closely with the industry since 2003, when the Regulation was first adopted, and will continue to work closely with them with regard to implementation," states the Government’s response.

"They have identified there are practical issues with implementation, and Defra will work with them to develop a system which is as practical as possible and that industry can make work."

Mr Roberts said: "Naturally, we are very disappointed by the Government’s response and the Prime Minister’s apparent refusal to condemn the EU’s decision on this matter.

"It is well established that Ministers from all of UK’s devolved regions are opposed to the Regulation, so why not speak out against the railroading of EID regulations by the EU?

"I fully appreciate that there are negotiations going on behind the scenes, but those should be based on the evidence and rational arguments put forward by the FUW and others over the years and if the Commission and Member States dig their heels in for political, rather than rational reasons, that behaviour should also be criticised.

"There is now widespread opposition to EID amongst sheep farmers throughout the EU, and it is about time somebody pointed out that the majority of EU farming ministers have failed their own farmers.

"Those in power should publicly speak out against this and the many other ridiculous and irrational Regulations we have to face, rather than being afraid to rock the boat."