The Farmers’ Union of Wales is urging shoppers to keep their Christmas shopping local to show support for rural and local businesses.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “As we speed towards Christmas, I would like to urge you to think about your rural businesses and see if you can buy local, either for the upcoming Christmas dinner or even gifts for family and friends.

“Speak to your local butcher about meat for the Christmas period and see what your local farm shop has to offer - I promise you will find many of the ingredients you need for your Christmas dinner right on your doorstep.

“There are also plenty of small shops around that offer Welsh craft and locally designed gifts and of course the choice for local food gifts is aplenty. It really is worth having a look. These are small decisions we can make that will have a big impact on our rural economy.

“A pound spent locally will go much further than a pound spent in a chain store and it keeps our rural economies going. By supporting our local businesses we don’t help a CEO buy a third holiday home but we help a local mum and dad put food on the table, a family pay their mortgage, a little girl get those dance lessons and a little boy get his favourite team shirt.”

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is sponsoring the free WIFI at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair, held in Builth Wells on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 November, in order to highlight the importance of digital inclusion across Wales.

“We still have over 15 percent of our population digitally excluded and even those that are connected still suffer poor performance in terms of speed and reliability. There are urban networks delivering speeds of up to 200MBps - way in excess of the 10 Mbps seen in some rural areas,” said FUW Managing Director Alan Davies.

“2 percent of our population produce around 60 percent of our food. Yet there is a significant part of that 2 percent who remain unable to connect to the internet from their farms. To highlight this problem the FUW is proud to be the official sponsor of the free Wifi available at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair,” added Mr Davies.

The FUW has stressed on many occasions that those without a connection cannot diversify their businesses, that they cannot support children with homework as many need to do and that they cannot connect readily with Government programmes for advice and support payments as they are mandated to do.

Mr Davies further said: “In simple terms our rural areas are still being left behind and the gap continues to widen. But over and above all that, they cannot benefit from the wider impact of digital technology that is racing through many parts of the world. If you are not familiar with the digital world you will find it far harder to adopt new and innovative practices that could transform businesses.”

The FUW acknowledges that much progress has been made over the years to include more and more people in the digital world in Wales but  there is still more to be done; particularly to reach the most remote groups, those families that are farming our land to produce the food we eat and care for our natural habitat and landscapes, who can often be found in the most rural areas of Wales.

“We must not underestimate how important it is that we get every part of Wales connected and exploiting digital technologies in order to ensure that we can help make farming and rural businesses more effective and efficient through that connectivity and help more people to a brighter digital future,” added Mr Davies.

[caption id="attachment_7273" align="alignleft" width="300"] UW Ceredigion young farmers talk about #FarmingMatters with Dunbia[/caption]

Young farmers from Ceredigion recently came together to discuss #FarmingMatters and the future of lamb exports with Dunbia (Llanybydder) Managing Director, Paul Edwards and Agricultural Manager, Alison Harvey.

The meeting, which was organised by the Ceredigion branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales, was held at the Llanybydder site and delegates heard how the plant is going from strength to strength, since the site was taken over from Oriel Jones in 2001.

The Llanybydder plant today has a weekly 300 tonne retail capacity, including slaughter capacity for 33,000 lambs per week and employs approximately 600 people.

Speaking after the visit, FUW Ceredigion County Executive Officer Mared Rand Jones said: “ It was a great meeting and really useful for our young farmers to hear what the future holds for lamb exports from a processor's point of view.

“We discussed many farming matters including Brexit, how to get more lamb on the shelves here at home, TSE regulations and the progress made in exporting our lamb to the US.”

Following the discussions, delegates enjoyed a tour around the factory and followed the full process from slaughter to packaging.

“The tour of the factory was really interesting - seeing the full process from slaughter to packaging the final product is something I would fully recommend to anyone in the business,” added Mared Rand Jones.

Dunbia (Llanybydder) Managing Director, Paul Edwards said: “It is very important that we, as a supply chain, engage with each other, and welcoming a group of young farmers to the factory is an ideal way to do this.

“There is nothing better than seeing the actual product and meeting people who work directly in the business.  It is always valuable to engage with young people in the industry and to hear their views.

“We had a good discussion before the tour, and I was really heartened by their enthusiasm and passion to promote Welsh Beef and Lamb, through closer collaboration between producer, processor and the consumer.”

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is looking forward to what promises to be an exciting Royal Welsh Winter Fair 2016, held on Monday 28 November and Tuesday 29 November, at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.

Members are invited to call by the Union stand, which is located next to the main show ring, for a chat about #FarmingMatters and light refreshments -  a warm welcome is guaranteed to all.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “We look forward to welcoming our members and friends of the Union to the FUW stand this year and hope to see many of you there.

“Our staff and officials are on hand to discuss any questions you may have about #FarmingMatters, including NVZs and Bovine TB.”

Events on Monday, 28 November, include the launch of the FUW Brexit Briefing Paper and a seminar for Harper Adams students on the topic of Brexit.

D?r Cymru will join the FUW stand at 12 noon to launch the next phase of their pesticide campaign, which will be delivered in partnership with the agricultural sector.

The campaign, called PestSmart, will include the weed wiper trial, a disposal scheme for targeted drinking water catchment areas across Wales, development of new literature and a website. The launch of PestSmart will be phased and extended to all pesticide users (including domestic users) in 2017.

The winners of the FUW Christmas card design competition will also be joining us on the Monday afternoon at 2.30pm to receive their prizes. The Christmas cards designed by the winners will be on sale for the two days of the show at £5 per 10 cards, with all proceeds going to BHF Cymru.

In addition, there is a chance to win an outstanding Welsh Christmas Food Hamper, and the winner will be chosen on the Tuesday afternoon of the show. Call by the stand to find out how you can enter!

The Caernarfonshire branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales will be hosting their annual dinner on Friday, November 25, at the Nanhoron Hotel, Nefyn.

The event will commence at 7.30pm and guests can look forward to entertainment by Hogia’r Bonc after dinner.

FUW Caernarfonshire County Chairman, Tudur Parry, said: “ A warm welcome will be extended to all our members and I hope that many of you can join us for our annual dinner, which was a roaring success last year. It promises to be a great evening and we will also be holding a raffle to raise money for the President’s charity British Heart Foundation - Wales during the evening.”

Those wishing to attend should phone the county office on 01286 672541.

[caption id="attachment_7260" align="alignleft" width="300"] Glyn and Carol Davies raised £1,925.00 through their 40th wedding anniversary for BHF Cymru.[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales Gwent County Executive Officer, Glyn Davies and his wife Carol, recently celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary and raised  £1,925.00 in the process for British Heart Foundation Cymru.

The couple celebrated with friends and family at Church Farm, Mynyddislwyn, home of FUW members Steve and Joy Powell.

In place of cards or presents, Glyn and Carol asked for donations to be made to BHF Cymru and all bar profits from the night were also donated to the charity.

Glyn Davies said: “I am sure everyone knows someone who has been affected by heart problems and it is pleasing to contribute to the efforts of the British Heart Foundation in fighting heart disease. Carol and myself would like to thank all those who donated to the event in support of BHF Cymru and for joining us in celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.”

[caption id="attachment_7261" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The ladies from the Gwent office joined Glyn Davies for the 40th wedding anniversary celebrations at Church Farm.[/caption]