[caption id="attachment_5533" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] FUW president Glyn Roberts, FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright and NSA chief executive Phil Stocker continue their campaign to change TSE regulations[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5534" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] (l-R) FUW vice president Brian Bowen, secretary of state Elizabeth Truss, FUW deputy president Brian Thomas, FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright, FUW vice president Eifion Huws and FUW vice president Richard Vaughan discuss TSE regulation at this year’s Royal Welsh Show[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has reiterated its frustration that current UK TSE regulation has led to a method of aging sheep, which costs the UK sheep sector around £25 million pounds per annum, during meetings with industry bodies and government at the Royal Welsh Show. 

European TSE regulations require the carcase of all sheep deemed to be over 12 months of age to be split and the spinal cord subsequently removed.  

In the UK, sheep are defined as 12 months of age following the eruption of the first permanent incisors. 

“Estimating age by means of dentition is imprecise and numerous peer reviewed publications have highlighted lengthy variability in the eruption of the permanent incisor teeth in sheep and factors such as breed, feeding regime and weight have previously been cited as affecting the accuracy of estimating age by dentition,” said FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright. 

The FUW would therefore welcome a change to the current interpretation from age determination via incisor eruption to a set calendar date of June 30. 

This date has been agreed by other relevant industry stakeholders, such as the National Sheep Association and represents a prudent way forward in the interpretation of TSE regulation. 

“In recent meetings with both deputy minister Rebecca Evans and secretary of state, Elizabeth Truss, we highlighted that one advantage of using a set calendar date of June 30, is that the industry has a clear and definite target for aging sheep, which allows producers to plan ahead and manage sheep accordingly. 

“We will continue our discussions to ensure moves are made towards changing the current TSE controls in order to facilitate controls which recognise the significant burden of complying with regulations which were inappropriately and hastily borne out of the BSE incident more than 20 years ago,” added Dr Wright.

[caption id="attachment_5529" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] "We need a scheme that recognises the importance of food production, encourages active and productive farmers and ensures succession within the industry" – Darren Williams[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5530" align="aligncenter" width="852"] Welcoming the EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan (left) were Darren and his wife Rachel Williams with their two children nine-year-old Rhys and four-year-old Teifi.[/caption]

The Farmers' Union of Wales has highlighted numerous concerns regarding the challenges facing Welsh agriculture during a farm visit with EU agriculture commissioner Phil Hogan. 

The visit, hosted by Darren and Rachel Williams, tenant farmers at Talwen Fawr, near Brecon, was the second meeting between the FUW and the commissioner during his two day visit to Wales. 

Speaking after the visit, Mr Williams, who is chairman of the FUW's younger voice for farming committee as well as vice chairman of the FUW's Brecon and Radnor county branch, said: "As a farming family with two young children on a 100 hectare tenanted farm, it was a great opportunity to meet the commissioner and highlight numerous concerns and challenges we face." 

Among the many issues raised with the commissioner were the current low farmgate prices for lamb and milk, the need to simplify the new CAP to reduce bureaucracy and unfair penalties, and the long term future of the CAP. 

"We are currently receiving £25 to £30 less for our lambs than we were last year and facing further severe cuts to payments, while the costs of bureaucracy and risks of unfair penalties are escalating." 

Mr Williams said, moves already instigated by the commissioner, which will reduce the burden of the new CAP regulations were welcome, but a great deal remained to be done to fulfil the EU's stated objective of reducing bureaucracy. 

"We therefore welcomed commissioner Hogan's commitment to continue to review areas of the regulations where changes can be made, and to make changes as soon as possible. 

"We try wherever possible to use technology to help the business become more efficient, with all our animal records kept on computer using cloud technology and mobile apps, and GPS installed on the tractor. 

"However, when the regulations with technology such as sheep EID require 100 percent accuracy and the system has an inherent fail rate of around 5 percent we still need tolerances. 

"Having time to allow the older generation to adapt and recognition of poor mobile phone and broadband availability is therefore essential." 

Mr Williams also highlighted the extreme complexity of the new Basic Payment Scheme rules, and showed the commissioner a first-hand an example of an area of grazed woodland which was excluded under the new scheme. 

"Wales has suffered severely as a result of the commission's decision to exclude grass growing between trees spaced at 10 metres or less from Basic Payment Scheme eligibility. 

"This is clearly nonsensical from an environmental point of view as well as being detrimental to farms where areas of woodland provide important shelter and grazing for animals." 

The commissioner heard how, despite a commitment by the previous administration to reduce bureaucracy, the reality was that Welsh government and farmers had been burdened with far more costs and red tape at a time when budgets were severely reduced. 

"Yet, against this background, small errors and subjective interpretations of measurements can bring harsh penalties," added Mr Williams. 

Mr Williams further said it was essential to start discussions on the next CAP as soon as possible. 

"Given the problems and delays in reaching agreement over the previous CAP there is a compelling argument in favour of having a rolling review aimed at simplifying the current rules, while also starting to discuss and plan what the next CAP should look like as soon as possible. 

"We need a scheme that recognises the importance of food production, encourages active and productive farmers and ensures succession within the industry," he added.

[caption id="attachment_5525" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] FUW teams up with HSE (l-r) FUW landuse policy officer Bernard Griffiths, FUW finance and organisation committee members Dewi Owen and Brian Bowen, HSE head of agriculture Rick Brunt, HSE head of agricultural safety section Andrew Turner and HSE head of agricultural health, education and employment, Sarah Jardine[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5526" align="aligncenter" width="300"] St John Cymru Wales Cadet of the Year 2015, 16-year-old Rhiannon Bartlett[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales – one of 13 organisations part of the On-Farm Health & Safety Charter for Wales – joined forces with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and St John Cymru Wales to get the health and safety message across to farmers, at the second day of the Royal Welsh Show (Tuesday, July 21).

“Agriculture represents about 1.4 percent of the workforce across the UK but astonishingly accounts for up to 20 percent of all reported work-related fatalities in Great Britain. And even though we still have one of the lowest rates of workplace deaths in Europe, one death is still one too many and we don’t want to see our farmers become a farming fatality statistic,” said FUW education and training committee chairman Alun Edwards

Joining the FUW at its pavilion was HSE's head of agriculture, Rick Brunt, who said: "The work of the Wales Farm Safety Partnership is a vital component in helping the farming industry improve its poor safety record.

“The risks on farms are all well-known and readily managed, but all too often farmers and farm workers put themselves in situations where one slip can have life changing or even fatal consequences.

“We are pleased to support the partnership, and the member organisations, in their activities to raise awareness of these issues."

Throughout the day visitors to the pavilion were able to chat with St John Cymru Wales Cadet of the Year 2015, 16-year-old Rhiannon Bartlett, who shares the organisations vision of there being a First Aider on Every Street in the future.

“We as an organisation recognise the dangers associated with the industries and communities in which we work.  Agriculture is a major industry in Wales and St John understand the dangers involved and the fact that it is statistically the most dangerous work place in the UK,” said Miss Bartlett.

Rhiannon is a farmer’s daughter living on a hill farm in Machen where she is part of the third generation working the land and looking after the livestock there. This makes her ideally placed to take a leading role in publicising in the First Aid for Farmers campaign.

“I am passionate about improving the safety for farmers as they work and am looking to raise first aid awareness of famers and in particular young farmers.  First aid training will give farming families the skills they need to cope with potentially life threatening situations,” added Miss Bartlett.

[caption id="attachment_5522" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] (l-r) Vodaphone representative Graham Dunn, O2 representative Paul James, EE representative Alex Jackman, Three representative Justin Kempley, Ofcom regulatory affairs manager Elinor Williams and FUW deputy president Brian Thomas.[/caption]

The lack of network coverage in rural Wales was high on the agenda today on the second day of the Royal Welsh Show (Tuesday, July 21) when the Farmers’ Union of Wales joined forces with Ofcom at its pavilion alongside the main ring. 

The FUW and Ofcom held wide-ranging talks with farmers and representatives from the communications industry including the mobile network operators – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone to discuss plans for improvement in the rural areas of Wales. 

FUW deputy president Brian Thomas, who was delighted that the union was once again hosting this event at the Royal Welsh Show, said: “This is the fifth consecutive year at the show that the FUW has collaborated with Ofcom in providing a platform for discussion on the wide ranging communications issues facing rural Wales. 

“A lot of work has been done over the past four years to improve services for mobile phone coverage and broadband access but with ever increasing demands on the farming community to carry out their business duties online more needs to be done to accelerate the process by which these twenty-first century services are readily and reliably available. 

“The farming industry, in increasing numbers, is reliant on smart phone technology such as apps and it is second nature for the up-and-coming younger generation to use their phones in innovative ways – so if rural businesses in Wales want to remain at the forefront of progress then more needs to be done to support them. 

“Further to this, online IACS, BCSM online and the incoming EID are just a few examples that farmers throughout Wales require reliable and fast internet connections for, which could be accessed through the appropriate mobile phone coverage if no broadband line is available. 

“So as a union we cannot stress the fact enough that more needs to be done to help rural communities and farm businesses by providing them with the essentials that every twenty-first century business needs.” 

Visitors to the pavilion were interested to hear that the latest statistics by Ofcom show that the availability of 2G and 3G services in homes across Wales has reached 98.9 percent and 97 percent respectively by June this year, whilst the availability of 4G is available in only 62.8 percent of properties, compared to 89.5 percent in the UK and 92.1 percent in England. 

But all the figures fall dramatically when measured in geographic availability as opposed to properties. When figures were published October last year they showed that 14 percent of Welsh remote areas didn’t have 2G coverage, 21 percent didn’t have 3G and 37.2 percent didn’t have 4G. 

Whilst over the border in England only 4 percent of remote areas didn’t have 2G coverage, 7 percent are without 3G coverage and 10.5 percent are without 4G coverage.  

Ofcom regulatory affairs manager Elinor Williams said: “We are becoming increasingly dependent on our mobile devices, however, there are still areas where a lack of network coverage means that making mobile phone calls, sending text messages and accessing data services over a cellular network is not possible.  

“Rural Wales has its fair share of ‘not-spots’ and weak spots, areas where there are is no signal at all by either of the phone companies, which present challenges to mobile network operators.  

“The UK government recognises these not spots and weak spots and has committed to solve the problem and has set 115 million pounds aside to support the establishment of the infrastructure that is necessary to improve services, whilst the 4 providers (Vodaphone, O2, EE and Three) will be covering the building cost. 

“The agricultural sector is being affected more than any other by a lack of mobile phone signal and we take this matter very serious,” she added.  

Farmers were pleased to hear that Ofcom takes the matter very serious and the union has long stressed that people are now dependent on their mobile phone as they go about their daily business.  

“The agricultural industry is just as reliant on mobile phones as any other industry and if you add tourism to the mix with people on holiday wanting to access their e-mails, share their photos on social media and stay connected to their loved ones it becomes even more vital. 

“We were keen to hear that a legal agreement has been reached between the providers to ensure £5 billion are available to spend to improve the mobile phone infrastructure by 2017 and to ensure voice and text service are available by the providers to 90 percent of remote areas in the UK by 2017,” added Mr Thomas.

[caption id="attachment_5519" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright with Farmers Guardian news and business editor Ben Briggs[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has today (Monday July 20) renewed its support for the ‘Take the Lead’ campaign, which was originally launched in spring 2014 to raise the profile of livestock worrying by dogs among the general public by the Farmers Guardian.

“Increased numbers of sheep worrying incidents remain a major concern for the industry and we are pleased to pledge our continued support to the campaign,” said FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright.

“The public needs to be aware of how dangerous their pets can be to livestock if they are being chased or, even worse, attacked by dogs on the loose. Alongside animal injury and mortality, livestock worrying can also cause grazing parcels to be lost, if sheep are too stressed to return to the land,” she added.

According to figures revealed by the Farmers Guardian there were more than 1,000 attacks by dogs in 2013, up from 691 in 2011, and a survey of 580 NSA members revealed 58 per cent see sheep worrying as a “persistent problem”, with 63 per cent of attacks resulting in “invisible” injuries such as stress and abortion.

“We will do our utmost to highlight the need for responsible dog ownership amongst the farming and non-farming community. Farmers are continuously being inspected to ensure that they look after their animals in an appropriate manner, whilst some owners of dogs let their pets run freely and totally out of control.

“The union is appealing to all dog owners to ensure that they keep their dogs on their leads whenever they see livestock in the same field as their dogs, even though that may be on the side of a mountain where the animals maybe a long way away,” added Dr Wright.

The FUW is calling on people to keep their dogs on a lead when they walk in the countryside and is encouraging farmers to use the “take the lead” campaign sign and display it on their farms.

“Sheep, lambs, cattle and horses have been attacked, ewes are aborting due to the stress caused by being chased and some animals are even dying of exhaustion. This can all be prevented through responsible dog ownership and taking the countryside code of conduct into account,” said Dr Wright.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is putting its money where its mouth is by sourcing the food served in the pavilion during the Royal Welsh Show (July 20 – 23) from within Wales. 

“Last year we welcomed the commitment made by prime minister David Cameron and environment secretary Liz Truss to boost public food procurement by central government and in line with the on-going FUW campaign to keep food miles down, have ensured that the food produce served in our pavilion is sourced from within Wales,” said FUW president Glyn Roberts. 

The plan for public procurement, which was announced during the Royal Welsh Show 2014, is worth £400 million for British farming and will see central government committing to buy fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food from 2017. 

Speaking ahead of the show FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “Local procurement brings benefits for farmers across the UK and we will continue to encourage all public bodies and of course supermarkets, to follow suit. 

“The FUW has been lobbying for precisely this type of commitment ever since I have been involved with the union and it’s about time that more is done in this area to help secure the future of the industry. 

“It is in all our interests to ensure that all public bodies use locally sourced and seasonal food to maintain a prosperous and thriving economy and that those selling food produce source it from within the UK and as close to home as possible.”