[caption id="attachment_7475" align="alignleft" width="297"] Darren Williams[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has welcomed Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths’ announcement of a £40 million investment scheme which will allow farm businesses to improve performance in key areas.

The scheme will provide 40% support for farm business investments of up to £12,000 over a four-year period for around eighty items linked to:

• animal health,
• genetics and performance,
• crop management,
• energy and resource efficiency
• Information and Communications technology.

Welcoming the announcement, FUW Younger Voice Committee Chairman Darren Williams said:

“Over the past three years farmers have paid around £120 million into the Rural Development Programme through pillar transfers, so the opportunity to access funding to improve their businesses in this way will be welcome.

“The FUW has lobbied hard to secure such a scheme for years, and more recently has worked with Hybu Cig Cymru, AHDB Dairy and the Welsh Government to draw up a list of possible items which would improve farm performance.”

Mr Williams said that while there would no doubt be items, desired by some businesses, which will not have made it onto the list due to the strict selection criteria, the comprehensive list of those which had, would bring major benefits to farms.

Announcing the scheme, Lesley Griffiths said the key objectives would be reducing carbon emissions and to improve resilience and competitiveness.

“We are continually striving to make our farms more efficient and effective, while also lowering our impact on the environment, but with many farm incomes well below the £20,000 mark, finding the money to invest in what’s needed can be impossible.

“This scheme should therefore provide welcome help on that front, while seeing investment on farms which have paid into the RDP for years but not received anything. I do however hope that every farmer will be able to access the scheme and not just a select target few,” said Mr Williams.

Mr Williams added he looked forward to seeing more of the scheme’s details, and hoped the application and implementation rules would not be too burdensome.

[caption id="attachment_7470" align="alignleft" width="169"] Caryl Hughes[/caption]

Just before Christmas we caught up with young farmer Caryl Hughes to find out what she has planned in January and it sounds like things are going to be quite exciting! Have a read here about what she's up to:

Caryl, 26, and her family- parents - Rheinallt (who is the FUW's county chairman in Denbighshire) and Liz and brother Iwan,22, currently farm 660 acres at Tu Hwnt i’r Afon, Llanarmon DC, Croesowallt. In the new year this will increase to 980 acres, as Caryl has secured a new tenancy agreement. The family will be lambing around 1800 ewes next lambing season and carry 350 replacements every year.

The majority of the flock is pure Welsh Mountain but they also have a flock of 250 Mule ewes, which are kept on the lower land and lamb early to hit the early markets.

In partnership with her family, Caryl also runs around 30 suckler cows and followers. They usually buy in around 15-20 weaner calves that are reared to stores and sold.

Caryl has a degree in Agriculture and Animal Science from Aberystwyth University. During her time at University she travelled to New Zealand where she worked for 12 months, milking cows and working on a beef and sheep station.

She has also travelled to Norway to work with a shearing gang, studied shepherding in the French Alps and was the first Llyndy Isaf Scholar to farm in Snowdonia.

Caryl is currently the county vice chairman of Montgomeryshire YFC.

On the farm:

On the farm we have taken lambs to our local market of Oswestry. We decided to try some smaller lambs, as we already sold most of the cross bred lambs and the ones we have left need to get a bit heavier before they can go.

I took 30 Welsh Mountain ram lambs to market, which weighed 30.5kgs. The price for smaller lambs hasn’t been very exciting over the last few weeks but I managed to £46 each for them which works out at around £1.50 per kilo. A good price on the day and I left the market confident that I had done so.

With the new tenancy starting early in the new year we have been buying in old ewes from Oswestry, Ruthin and Dolgellau markets to start a flock for the new land. I've turned Blue Face Leicester rams to them all and hope to be selling mule ewe lambs in the breeding markets next Autumn.

I then took the Welsh ewes with their rams back up to the mountain for a few weeks to let the bottom land have a bit of a rest and I took a Texel and a Charolais ram down to the older ewes so they could do some sweeping. Hopefully I won’t find too many of them taking these rams now as we could have a long lambing season on our hands if they do.

New Beginning:

At the start of the week, some would say I signed my life away… but I see it as a fantastic opportunity. I have recently decided that I wanted to take the plunge and go self employed and start farming at home on our family farm.

After signing on the dotted line to join the family partnership with my parents and grandmother, it was time to sign on another dotted line for a three year 320 acre tenancy.

Social:

My Gran has always told me, ‘You shouldn’t burn the candle at both ends’ but that’s easier said than done when you’re a YFC club chairman and a county vice chairman.

Amongst many other YFC events I went to Gregynog Hall in Tregynon for the county YFCs English public speaking competition. After looking up a few jokes on Google and putting a few notes down we headed into the after dinner speaking competition.

We came a very respectable 2nd as a Senior team and won the English competition overall as a club.

Friday night was the Welsh Public Speaking competition at the same venue, as organised as ever I managed to get an hour off to sit and write my debating speech to oppose the motion that Britain should do more to help asylum seekers.

Apparently I’m not too bad at debating and came home with the trophy for the best senior speaker and the overall senior team trophy.

Challenges:

In my opinion land prices and getting on the ladder is the hardest thing facing us young people in the industry. The competition for land in most areas is fierce with many young people being out priced by larger expanding farms. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a family farm where my brother and I will be the 5th generation.

Future:

I look forward to taking my place in running the family farm with my parents. I’m hoping to concentrate on the sheep enterprise mainly, producing not only a profitable quantity of lambs but also quality throughout the season.

I’m looking to refine the flock and really concentrating on a gross margin per ewe instead of the flock as a whole.

I wasn’t a fan of leaving the EU, but the decision has been made and we need to look at it with a positive attitude for the industry. This is our time as young people to really put our stamp on our futures and make a change.

Farmers in Carmarthenshire will have an opportunity to voice their concerns and get an update on the industry, with two Farmers’ Union of Wales branch meetings being held in January.

South Carmarthenshire farmers will be interested in the meeting arranged for Monday, January 16 at 7.30pm, which is held at Clwb Top, Upper Tumble.

A further meeting for those in the north of the County is being held at the Forest Arms, Brechfa, on Thursday, January 26, which also starts at 7.30pm.

Members will have the opportunity to discuss general veterinary issues with a local vet and further debate #Farming Matters.

Farmers’ Union of Wales County Executive Officer David Waters said:

“This is an excellent opportunity for our members to get an update on the industry and what the FUW is doing and it also provides a great platform to share some thoughts and ideas. I encourage our members to join us for the evening and look forward to see many of you there.”

Meetings for east and west Carmarthen will be held in February.

More information is available from the office - 01267 237974.

Have you got a ‘cup of tea’,  ‘garden gate’, or maybe even all the threes? There’s one way to find out  - join our Carmarthen office for the first Bingo fundraising night of the year.

The team is inviting you to join them at the Talardd Arms, Llanllwni, on Tuesday, 17 January at 7.30pm for a fun night of Bingo to raise money for the FUW President’s charity British Heart Foundation (BHF) Cymru.

David Waters, the County Executive Officer for Carmarthenshire , said:

“I would like to invite you all to join us for a fun evening of Bingo. It’s our first fundraiser of the year and it promises to be a good laugh. All money raised goes towards a great cause and I hope to see many of you there on the night.”

BHF are the nation’s heart charity and the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research. Coronary heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer and their pioneering research has helped to transform the lives of people living with heart and circulatory conditions and their work has been central to the discoveries of vital treatments that are helping to change the face of the UK’s fight against heart disease.

For more information you can contact the office on 01267 237974.

If you keep poultry you need to be aware that an extension of the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone, covering the whole of Wales, by a further seven weeks, until 28 February 2017 has been declared by the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths.

The Declaration of an Extension of the Prevention Zone follows a case of Avian Influenza in a backyard flock in Pontyberem, Carmarthenshire yesterday. This is the same strain of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) (H5N8) virus found in a wild duck in Llanelli on 22 December, a turkey farm in Lincolnshire on 16 December and wild, captive and domestic birds in many European countries, the Middle East and North Africa.

The Prevention Zone, originally introduced on 6 December 2016, enhanced biosecurity measures including:

• a requirement for all keepers of poultry and other captive birds to keep their birds indoors, or take appropriate steps to keep them separate from wild birds.

Similar arrangements were also announced in England and Scotland on the same day and Northern Ireland on 23 December 2016.  England and Scotland have announced extensions to their own Prevention Zones today.

The extension of the Prevention Zone does not affect the ability of poultry keepers to market their products as free range. Under EU legislation, poultry keepers are able to maintain their free range-status for a period of 12 weeks if Government issues such a declaration.

If you are concerned about the health of your birds you should seek advice from your veterinary surgeon. If you suspect that your birds are showing signs of the disease you should immediately report it to your local Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) office.

Poultry keepers are encouraged to provide details of their flocks to the Poultry Register. This will ensure they can be contacted immediately in the event of an avian disease outbreak so that they can take action to protect their flock at the earliest opportunity.

Members of the public are encouraged to report dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks), or other dead wild birds such as gulls or birds of prey, to the Defra helpline on 03459 33 55 77.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said:

“We have taken the decision to extend the Prevention Zone on the basis of expert advice and after consulting with our counterparts across the UK. This action aims to protect our poultry flocks and other domestic birds from the disease.

“My message to bird owners, including to back yard flock keepers, is to adhere to the requirements set out in the Prevention Zone, remain vigilant for signs of disease and practice good biosecurity at all times.

The Chief Veterinary Officer, Christianne Glossop added:

“I would encourage all poultry keepers to continue to be alert for signs of the disease and practice the highest levels of biosecurity. The movement of poultry should be minimised, and clothing and equipment should always be disinfected.

“Even when birds are housed, there remains a risk of infection and keepers of poultry and other captive birds should ensure that every effort is made to prevent contact with wild birds."

We have today welcomed Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths’ support for our call for an overarching UK framework for agricultural policy with appropriate flexibility for devolved regions.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Oxford Farming Conference, Mrs Griffiths highlighted the fact that key areas of agricultural policy had been devolved to Wales since 1999, but that a UK framework which respected devolution was needed.

[caption id="attachment_7076" align="alignright" width="150"] "Without direct support via Pillar 1 most businesses would not survive..." - Glyn Roberts[/caption]

Speaking from the conference, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “I welcome our own Cabinet Secretary’s support for the FUW’s policy position published last year.”

The panel - comprising Defra Minister George Eustice; SNP Environment and Rural Affairs spokesperson Calum Kerr; Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths and Northern Irish Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Michelle McIlveen - generally agreed that the devolved regions should work together to develop some form of mechanism to prevent distortion between agricultural producers in different regions.

However, Mr Roberts expressed concern that the Welsh Cabinet Secretary did not explicitly support SNP spokesman Calum Kerr’s call during the debate for current agricultural and rural development spending to be at least maintained post 2020 until alternative means of sustaining farm incomes became apparent.

“Mr Kerr highlighted the importance of direct support and maintaining the current budget to Scotland and it’s farmers, and Wales is in a very similar position in terms of the reliance of our rural businesses and economy on the current allocation,” said Mr Roberts.

“The economic and social arguments in favour of maintaining the Welsh budget for agriculture and rural development into the future are no different to those in Scotland.

Mr Roberts said that Welsh Farm Business Survey results show every pound given in direct support for Welsh farming generates many more in terms of employment and payments to other businesses.

“The figures also show that without direct support via Pillar 1 most businesses would not survive, meaning the loss of a multi-billion pound multiplier effect that brings vast benefits to Wales’ economy.

“Wales needs to take a strong position on maintaining the budget, just as it did during the negotiations over the CAP budget - or risk a net fall in our overall funding allocation, with dire knock-on effects for our entire economy,” he added.