[caption id="attachment_5363" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] FUW Insurance Services Caernarfon area officer Dylan Evans received the award for performance against target (left) and FUW Insurance Services Carmarthenshire area officer John Price received the award for efficiency.[/caption]

FUW Insurance Services staff awards were presented to area officer Dylan Evans of Caernarfon for performance against target and area officer John Price of Carmarthen for efficiency at yesterday’s annual general meeting of the FUW (June 15).  

Speaking about the awards, FUW Insurance Services managing director Mark Roberts said: “FUW Insurance Services achieved excellent growth in its premium income during 2014 despite a number of challenges and I am very grateful to everyone in the team for their efforts. We had some fantastic individual results, but that of Dylan Evans of Caernarfon is absolutely outstanding at 267 percent of his target. Well done Dylan. 

“In addition to measuring the success of our team in terms of volumes of sales, FUW Insurance also measures a number of other criteria such as customer service and claims handling, credit control and compliance. Again we had some fantastic results but my management team were unanimous in nominating John Price of Carmarthen for the award. Well done to you John. 

“Following recent appointments at FUW Insurance Services our area officers now have more support and assistance than at any time in our 60 year history; we have launched new schemes through new insurers with rates, cover and service that will be the envy of our competitors. Our future is looking bright,” added Mr Roberts.

[caption id="attachment_5358" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW Caernarfon county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin (left) receives the new members award from former FUW president Emyr Jones (centre) and newly elected FUW president Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5359" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW Caernarfon county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin receives the Owen Slaymaker Memorial Award from former FUW president Emyr Jones (centre) and newly elected FUW president Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales’ Owen Slaymaker Memorial Award was awarded to FUW Caernarfon county executive officer Gwynedd Watkin at the FUW annual general meeting yesterday (June 15). 

Presenting the award was newly elected FUW president Glyn Roberts, who said: “Gwynedd has done some outstanding work over the last year in the county for which we must recognise and thank him. 

“He has been working with North Wales Police and the three rural crime officers to aid rural policing, filled in over 400 IACS forms for members, completed agricultural construction planning applications on behalf of members, organised branch meetings and has been present at livestock markets within the county, Bryncir and Llanrwst, throughout the year. 

“Gwynedd has also been busy organising the county’s annual dinner at Nanhoron Arms Hotel, Nefyn, the county’s general meeting at the Marine Hotel, Criccieth with the candidates for the general election present – which was the first hustings in Wales for the May election - and he has successfully assisted members with appeals following on from the Open Access Mapping exercise.” 

Mr Watkin further represented the FUW and the industry at the Gwynedd Economic Partnership committee, the Local Implementation sub group – Gwynedd Economic Partnership – for which he has chairman until January, Gwynedd Environmental Partnership committee, Gwynedd Nature Group, the Local Access Forum Arfon and Dwyfor for which he also served as chairman until January, National Park Agri Liaison Group, Natural Resources Wales Agri Liaison Group, Gwynedd and Anglesey Fisheries Action Group and Rural Payments Wales’ On-line stakeholder group in Llandrindod.  

“In addition to that, Gwynedd has also represented the FUW successfully at a variety of events such as the Gwledd  Conwy Feast, Sioe Dyffryn Ogwen, Sioe Llanrwst, Ras ‘Redig, Sioe Nefyn and Sioe Caernarfon.  

“But we must also not forget the effort he has made in raising funds for the presidents charitable causes, Ty Hafan and Ty Gobaith. Together with his county team he organised seven breakfast function and in the process raised £5,000 in 2014 and over £7,300 in 2015,” added Mr Roberts. 

Mr Gwynedd Watkin and his Caernarfonshire team were also presented with an award for enrolling the most amount of new members over the last twelve months at yesterday’s AGM. 

Bala beef and sheep farmer Emyr Jones has decided to stand down as the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ president following 15 years’ loyal service to the organisation at national level.

Mr Jones, a family farms champion, revealed his decision at the union’s annual general meeting in  Aberystwyth today (Monday June 15).

He was Meirionnydd county chairman from 1998 to ­2000 when he was elected to represent North Wales on the union’s central finance and organisation committee. He was elected national vice president in 2002, deputy president in 2003 and president in 2011.

He told county delegates today: “Following the major reorganisation during the past year of the management of both the FUW and FUW Insurance, I believe we are now an organisation that can look forward with confidence to serving the Welsh agricultural industry for another 60 years.

“Therefore, after serving as your leader for the past four years and as deputy president before that for eight years, I think it is time that I took a back seat and allowed the union to be led by a new face who can deal with the challenges that continue to confront the industry.

 “I am confident that, whoever takes over from me, will do a fine job and can count on my full support.

 “I also thank all the staff and members of the union for their support over the past 12 years and I offer my heartfelt thanks to all those people, both inside and outside our industry, for their valuable help through all the good, and sometimes difficult, times.

 “Finally, I wish the members of the new presidential team all the best in their future efforts to sustain the FUW for many more years to come.” 

Mr Jones is married with three children. A Welsh speaker, he was born and brought up on the family farm Rhiwaedog, Rhosygwaliau, near Bala.

The farm extends to 360 acres, with a further 300 acres of rented land, and carries a herd of 60 pedigree Welsh Black suckler cows and 1,700 breeding sheep.

He is a prominent member of many organisations including the Welsh Mountain Sheep Society, Welsh Black Cattle Society, and is a director of Meirionnydd County Show.

He is a former chairman of Meirionnydd Grassland Society and has been a member since the society was founded 30 years ago.

His contribution to agriculture was recognised when he became an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies, and received the honour of Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2001.

Rhiwaedog has won several accolades over many years including the Royal Welsh Show Farm Buildings Facilities Award and the Snowdonia National Park Society Farming and Landscape Award.

Its main achievement was in 2008 when the farm won the British Grassland Societies National Grassland and Management competition in Wales and went forward to win the UK title.

Mr Jones also devotes a great deal of time to community life, being a former chairman of his community council. He is active with his local show at Llangower and is also a deacon of his local chapel.

He is passionately committed to the principles on which the FUW was established and frequently speaks on behalf of the union on radio and television.

[caption id="attachment_5355" align="aligncenter" width="244"] Emyr Jones.[/caption]

Staff from the Welsh Government’s Farm Liaison Service (FLS) were today (Monday June 15) presented with the Farmers’ Union of Wales annual external award for services to the agricultural industry in Wales.

The FLS is an important point of contact for many farmers in Wales and provide Welsh farmers with confidential, one-to-one guidance and support on a wide range of topics.

“Their dedicated team of regionally based support staff provide farmers with up to date information about all agriculture-related schemes and policy areas administered by the Welsh Government and today we are paying tribute to the tremendous contribution they make to the agricultural sector year on year,” said FUW president Emyr Jones.

“As a union we are always grateful to see Farm Liaison Officers at divisional offices, many of the main livestock markets in Wales, regional agricultural shows and numerous Farming Connect events. The way they bridge the gap between civil servants and farmers for example by helping them with scheme guidance, farm records etc. which speeds up the process considerably for the farming community.

“Working Smarter Report author Gareth Williams said of the service that ‘The one-to-one advice and the ‘group’ and 'surgery' approaches employed by FLS are universally appreciated’ and we can only second that notion,” added Mr Jones.

FUW county executive officer David Waters said: “While concerns remain in some areas about access to the FLS following the closure of some offices, we welcome the ongoing commitment to the service which, alongside the services provided by the FUW, will continue to be of central importance to a large number of farmers, not least given the increase in bureaucracy which has accompanied the new CAP.”

[caption id="attachment_5351" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Presenting the FUW external award for services to agriculture to Rita Jones and the FLS is deputy minister for farming and food Rebecca Evans and FUW president Emyr Jones.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales 2015 internal award in recognition of services to the agricultural industry in Wales has been won by Glamorganshire beef and sheep farmer and long standing South Wales special member of the Farmers’ Union of Wales finance and organisation committee Lorraine Howells at today’s annual general meeting (Monday June 15) held at the MedRus conference centre on Aberystwyth University’s Penglais campus.

FUW president Emyr Jones, who presented the award, said: “Lorraine has been a member of the FUW for around 40 years. Her commitment and service to the union and agriculture has been of tremendous value and we thank her for all she has done.

“She has been a hardworking and conscientious member of the FUW and many standing committees and during this time we have recognised that Lorraine speaks her mind passionately and strongly, but constructively.

“She served as the union’s Glamorganshire county vice chairman from 1989 to 1991, county chairman from 1991 to 1995 and was elected as South Wales member of the central finance and organisation committee in 2000 before being elected vice president in June 2011.

“Lorraine chaired the FUW’s central common land committee for over ten years and is a past vice chairman of the central hill farming and marginal land committee.

“She has served as president of the Welsh Black Cattle Society and her successful and renowned butchers shop Cig Mynydd Cymru, which she set up eight years ago with five fellow breeders in the Rhymney and Merthyr Valley, is testimony to her commitment to the farming industry.”

Miss Howells, who farms Cwm Carno Farm, Rhymney, a hill farm extending to 320 acres mostly of reclaimed opencast land with common grazing, has been farming since 1974 at first in partnership with her grandparents, and then on her own.

“We must also acknowledge the sterling work Lorraine does outside of the union. She is the treasurer of her local commoners association, sits on the local access forum with her local authority, she is also part of the local action group for the RDP team, sits on the south east Wales TB board as a farmer member and has previously sat on the upland forum,” added Mr Jones.

“I am very proud to receive the award today and I must thank Lee Pritchard for all his help on the farm. Without him I would not have been able to carry out as much work for the union as I have,” said Miss Howells.

Cwm Carno farm carries a suckler herd of pedigree Welsh Black cattle and South Wales Mountain ewes and has been in the family for over 100 years.

Miss Howells took early retirement from teaching at the local comprehensive school in 1997 to devote more time to farming.

[caption id="attachment_5348" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Presenting the FUW internal award for services to agriculture to Lorraine Howells are (left) FUW president Emyr Jones and (right) FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

Delegates at the Farmers’ Union of Wales’ (FUW) annual general meeting have been told farmers are ideally placed to play a key role in addressing the major challenges of our generation.

However, speaking to delegates on Monday (June 15) in Aberystwyth, FUW president Emyr Jones warned that this could only happen if the industry was unhindered by regulations, and proper incentives were provided through the Rural Development Programme (RDP).

“At the time of our establishment in 1955, post-war rationing had only just come to an end, and the impact of food shortages remained fresh in peoples’ minds,” said Mr Jones.

Over the subsequent sixty years farms had modernised in order to providing plentiful and affordable food, he told delegates, meaning less than 10 percent of household incomes were now spent on food compared with more than 30 percent in 1955.

“In 1955 the world’s population stood at 2.8 billion. It now stands at 7.3 billion, well over double the 1955 level, and by the time the FUW reaches its 75th birthday it is expected to have trebled to 8.4 billion.

“With world populations set to continue growing, food production must remain the priority, but we must also recognise the other pressures and needs that growing populations bring, not least in terms of energy and the management of our natural resources.”

Mr Jones said Welsh farmers would rise to these new challenges just as they had done over the past six decades, but could only do so with the support of a focussed Rural Development Programme and in the absence of unnecessary restrictions.

“An appropriately structured RDP has the ability to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry over the coming years and decades, and above all else raise hopes.

“Such hope is desperately needed out there in the farming industry, at a time when farm incomes have crashed; farmgate prices have plummeted; and those factors influencing the Euro-Sterling exchange rate show little hope of improving in the near future – not to mention worries over our departure from the EU.”

Mr Jones said that while some factors were beyond government control, regulation was one area they did control which can make or break the ability to become more profitable while addressing key challenges.

He warned that the Welsh Government’s appetite for legislation could not only hinder the achievement of key objectives agreed upon by government and farming organisations, but also bring the principle of devolved government into disrepute.

“Overzealous legislation makes for bad governance, and strapped for cash businesses and authorities across Wales wait with bated breath, hoping that their worst fears are not realised when it comes to implementing the raft of legislation that is about to hit us here in Wales,” he added.