[caption id="attachment_6081" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Your local County Executive Officer will help you fill in your SAF form – make an appointment today.[/caption]

Members of the Farmers’ Union of Wales are being urged to contact their local FUW office as soon as possible, if they wish to receive assistance completing their 2016 SAF forms.

FUW Montgomeryshire County Executive Officer, Emyr Wyn Davies, said: “The free service that we exclusively provide to all members to alleviate the pain of form completion has proved invaluable for thousands of members over the years.

“While we hope the forms will be easier to complete this year than in 2015, the volume of work is still likely to be significant.

“The only way in which to manage this is to ensure appointments are made sooner rather than later.”

Mr Davies said the FUW had urged Welsh Government to release SAFs as early as possible in order to spread the workload.

“However, the slow processing of the 2015 forms coupled with the high number of appeals, particularly in relation to alleged over-declarations, means extra work in terms of checking the accuracy of the data on the 2016 SAF,” he added.

Contact details for local county offices can be found on the FUW website at fuw.org.uk

On Friday February 5, the Farmers’ Union of Wales will be joining the Wear it. Beat it. campaign for the British Heart Foundation Cymru.

In order to raise vital funds for the charity, FUW staff and officials will wear red for the day to help beat heart disease. The office is also hosting a cake and coffee morning at its head office in Aberystwyth to which members of the union are invited.

Staff will be putting the fight against heart disease in the picture by further joining in with the social media campaign on Twitter. Those who  wish to join the online campaign can simply put a picture of themselves wearing red up on Twitter and tweet @FUW_UAC as well as adding the #WearItBeatIt hashtag.

FUW Marketing and Membership manager Caryl Roberts said: “We are very excited to once again join in the fight against heart disease and hope the event will not just raise money for BHF Cymru but also raise awareness of how much of a problem heart disease is across Wales and the whole of the UK.

“Heart and circulatory disease takes the lives of more than 400 people in the UK each day. We hope that those participating will have a cracking good time whilst raising money to beat heart disease.

“The money that is raised goes to help fund life-transforming treatments, support pioneering research, and help care for people. So let’s get red ‘everywear’ and raise the roof.”

[caption id="attachment_6074" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW Ceredigion young farmers look to the future with Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture Rebecca Evans.[/caption]

Young farmers from Ceredigion came together recently to discuss their future in farming with Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Rebecca Evans.

The event, which was organised by the Ceredigion branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales, was held at Blaenglowon Fach farm, Talgarreg.

The 320 Friesian cow milking farm, which stretches over 500 acres and includes Pantswllt farm, is run by father and son team Hywel Dafis (correct spelling) and Arwel Davies.

High on the agenda was the Basic Payment Scheme and the uncertainty it brought with it for the industry.

Hywel Dafis, 36, who is keen to update the milking parlour to be more competitive and efficient on the global market scale, said that a major problem for young people now was that there was less money in the pot that goes directly to farmers.

“Welsh farmers are facing the most challenging and difficult period for a decade. A severely depleted CAP budget thanks to 15 percent of monies being moved from Pillar 1 to Pillar 2, coupled with ongoing uncertainty over exactly how much and when farmers will receive their BPS payment, creates extreme pressures for the industry,” said Hywel.

“With all that in mind the Rural Development Programme (RDP) is one key toolbox we do have at our disposal and which is a lifeline to the farming community.

“It is really important that the next Welsh Government ensures that as much funding as possible is made available to invest directly in farm improvements and infrastructure which will improve farm returns and supply chain efficiency.

“RDP funds have to be invested in the future of agriculture and equip it to cope with reductions in financial support and market failure, so that young farmers like myself can move with the times and be efficient and competitive on a global scale.”

Ceredigion’s young people further highlighted the fact that farming plays an enormous role in the community and that many of the rural businesses are sustained by the farming community.

FUW Ceredigion County Executive Officer, Mared Rand Jones, said: “The young people are our future and they need to be supported and their enthusiasm for this industry needs to be backed up by Government.

“We had some really good discussions with the Deputy Minister, which I hope will drive home the message that with around 35 percent of Wales’ population living in rural areas, the potential loss or watering down of what are currently EU policies aimed at supporting our rural communities and the agricultural businesses which lie at their heart should be a major concern for our politicians.

“On behalf of our young farmers, I thank the Deputy Minister for coming to listen to their concerns and ambitions, so that we can work together for the future of our local communities.”

Farmhouse kitchens up and down the country will fill the air with the glorious smell of freshly cooked bacon, sausages and eggs at the end of January to celebrate Farmhouse Breakfast Week (January 24 to 30).

Breakfast Week, which is managed by AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds, aims to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast.

It is an opportunity to showcase the wealth of wonderful breakfast produce available around the country and the FUW – who have been supporting the campaign for 16 years - want to encourage people to think about where their breakfast food comes from and support the farmers who produce it.

To show support for Welsh food producers and to raise the profile of Welsh breakfast produce, the Union is hosting a breakfast function at the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff on Tuesday, January 26.

During the Assembly breakfast, Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Rebecca Evans will also launch Farming Connect’s Agri-Academy 2016 and representatives of a wide cross-section of rural organisations in Wales will tuck in to a hearty early-morning platter.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “In the UK one in four people skip breakfast during the week and as many as one in six adults never eat breakfast even though experts claim it is the most important meal of the day and plays a key role in helping tackle obesity.

“So this is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of breakfast and showcase the huge variety of top quality farm produce available in Wales – ranging from bacon, sausages and eggs to speciality dairy products, breads and cereals.

“I am sure the breakfasts served up in every farmhouse kitchen taking part will fill the air with a delicious smell that will get everyone’s taste buds excited.”

Many of the FUW’s county branches have also organised local breakfast functions (details can be found on the FUW website at http://fuw.org.uk/events/ ), at which they will also be raising funds for the President's charity - BHF Cymru.

Sion Edwards, Head of BHF Cymru Community Fundraising, said: “We are delighted that the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) will be supporting BHF Cymru this January, through holding fundraising breakfasts across Wales.

“Heart disease is still Wales’s biggest killer and there are so many lives devastated in Wales by heart disease.

“Events such as the fundraising breakfasts will help raise vital funds towards our work in Wales and get everyone’s day off to a good start. You can make your farmhouse breakfast a healthier choice too by visiting the BHF website where you can find top healthy breakfast tips and recipe ideas”

The announcement by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), that a new genetic index will be published on January 19, which aims to help UK farmers to select for cows with reduced susceptibility to bovine TB (bTB), has been welcomed by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

FUW Senior Policy Officer, Dr Hazel Wright, said: “We welcome this index as another 'tool in the toolbox' in the fight against bovine TB. However, it is by no means a silver bullet and the FUW will continue to lobby for a more evidence based approach to bovine TB control in Wales.”

The latest statistics show a worrying increase in the proportion of animals testing positive for bTB.

Sadly, the number of animals slaughtered in Wales in the first month of 2015 due to bTB was close to the number slaughtered in the whole of the UK three decades ago.

“Whilst genetic improvements in this field may provide farmers with additional armoury in their attempts to reduce susceptibility to bovine TB, there can be no doubt that, had the current Welsh Government heeded the advice of its own experts in terms of addressing the disease reservoir which exists in badgers, levels of bTB would be lower than they currently are,” added Dr Wright.

The decision in 2012 to replace plans to cull badgers in the Intensive Action Area (IAA) with a vaccination programme was branded by the FUW as a betrayal of Welsh farmers and taxpayers. Indeed, the Welsh Government’s own financial assessment concluded that culling would, by saving the lives of cattle, result in a net financial benefit, while vaccination would lead to a net loss of £3.5 million.

The Union remains resolute in its belief that Wales must return to a science led approach to controlling bTB in badgers; a fact that has been highlighted in the FUW’s 2016 Welsh Assembly Election Manifesto.

In the meantime, considerable concern exists regarding the proportionality of some measures being applied in the IAA and the severe economic restrictions they place on farms.

The Union would reiterate that it is imperative that the additional cattle controls present in the IAA for more than five years should now be lifted and what remains of the IAA vaccination budget should be used to help those farmers in the area who have endured additional costs not present in other areas.

The Union will continue to stress that a badger culling policy should be implemented at the earliest opportunity, in line with official ministerial advice previously received by the current Welsh Government.

As a result of a rotational change in Presidency of the EU a new series of discussions have been initiated by the Netherlands - with the main focus being the next CAP programme period and its simplification.

This news has been described as ‘essential’ and ‘most welcome’ by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

The complexity of the current CAP rules and the requirement to provide sketch maps have been a nightmare for farmers and all those assisting them with filling out and submitting their Basic Payment Scheme forms (BPS).

FUW staff worked tirelessly in the run up to May 15, dealing with the new regulations, and the FUW has expressed every sympathy to Welsh Government staff who are now under the same pressures.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Over the past five years both the European Commission and the Welsh Government have, it is hoped, learned important lessons in terms of planning for the future and we welcome the move by the new EU Presidency to kick-off talks on the post 2020 programme early.”

In its 2016 Welsh Assembly Election Manifesto, the FUW highlighted that the European Commission (EC) failed to secure agreement for its proposed reforms in time to implement the scheme in 2014, as should have been the case, while the complexity of the regulations finally passed meant the new Commissioner – Phil Hogan – had little choice but to make CAP simplification an immediate priority.

Despite the twelve month delay to the CAP implementation date, the Welsh Government’s failure to heed the FUW’s warnings by preparing for the new CAP early on led to two legal challenges and limited options in terms of the final payment models which could be practically implemented in Wales.

Mr Roberts added that “As such, we are left with an imperfect Welsh Basic Payment Scheme which fails to meet the key aspirations agreed by government and industry, and we also have unnecessary and costly levels of bureaucracy which contradict the original principles agreed by the European Commission and Parliament.

“The clear lesson for the EC is that, in light of co-decision making, it is essential that discussions on the priorities and options available under the next CAP must be started early – a concern already raised by the FUW with Commissioner Hogan.”

Meanwhile, the Welsh Government must also look beyond the current CAP and undertake work early on to identify those priorities and options which best suit Wales’ agricultural industry.

It is vital that concerns over whether the UK will remain a part of the EU should not be used to justify procrastination and we must feed into discussions at an EU level and help shape the next CAP.

Moreover, such work may also inform policies should exit from the EU become inevitable.

In light of this, the Union would urge the incoming Welsh Government to undertake detailed work to examine the possible outcomes of adopting a broad range of Welsh basic payment models post 2020, undertake mapping work in order to identify those areas which might be used as the basis for future payment models, and investigate the benefits or otherwise of multi-tiered payment systems akin to the Redistributive and Tir Mynydd models in order to feed into discussions at an EU level.