The Farmers' Union of Wales today repeated its demands for a total ban on Chinese (sky) lanterns after firefighters revealed they believe a huge blaze at a plastic recycling factory on the outskirts of Birmingham was started by one.

"Only six weeks ago the union expressed its disappointment that a government-funded study failed to properly reflect the dangers Chinese lanterns pose to property and livestock," said FUW land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams, who farms on Anglesey.

Mr Williams was referring to a study jointly commissioned by Defra and the Welsh Government, and carried out by ADAS, into the risks of sky lanterns and helium balloons to livestock health and welfare; the environment (including litter); fire risk; damage to marine life and consumer safety.

Despite conceding that the evidence they received reflected widespread concern from farmers and others over the dangers of sky lanterns, they failed to support calls for a ban on Chinese lanterns.

After consulting its members throughout Wales, the union received numerous reports of lanterns being found in fields that were being grazed, about to be grazed, or cut for silage or hay.

Other more serious reports received included a lantern found smouldering in a barn containing hay and straw and a cow injured following a stampede started by lanterns floating over fields containing livestock.

"The materials used in the construction of these lanterns pose a danger to livestock, particularly if the wire or bamboo from the frame of the lantern is chopped up during the silage making process and contaminates feedstocks.

“We have also repeatedly warned that sky lanterns pose a considerable fire risk and this latest incident demonstrates why there should be an outright ban on the manufacture and sale of sky lanterns, and that their release should be made illegal in the UK.”

Around 200 firefighters were tackling the blaze today at Smethwick where about 100,000 tonnes of recycling material and a factory unit were set alight.

A familiar face to many North Wales farmers started work for the Farmers' Union of Wales on today (July 1) as its area officer for the Ruthin, Denbigh and St Asaph areas.

Farmer's wife Lowri Evans joins the FUW after working for Menter a Busnes as a facilitator and co-ordinator for the Farming Connect project which involved contact with numerous farmers in the Denbigh and Flint areas.

A farmer's daughter from Betws Gwerfyl Goch, she farms at Bron Haul, Henllan, with her husband Gareth. She graduated from Harper Adams University with a HND in agri-food and marketing with business studies in 2007 when she received the business and marketing student of the year award.

Earlier this year she and her husband were fortunate to gain the tenancy of Bron Haul, a 120-acre council holding.

Lowri's appointment follows the promotion last year of Llanrwst-based area officers' assistant Caryl Edwards to area officer for the Llanrwst and Uwchaled areas.

Originally from Felinheli, near Bangor, Caryl now lives with her family at Pen y Bryn Farm, Llanddoged. A former pupil of Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy, she began her working career with Midland Bank and has some 20 years' experience in the insurance industry.

Lowri and Caryl are taking over the day-to-day running of the FUW's insurance and membership services previously carried out by area officer Gwyn Williams. He said: "Following 40 years' service as an area officer, it's time I take a step back.

"Following continued and regular growth in both membership numbers and insurance business there was an opportunity to increase the number of officers serving the area.

"I am confident FUW members will receive the same level of service and support that provided to them in the past and I will be continuing to support Lowri and Caryl as the need arises."

Lowri and Caryl can be contacted at the FUW's Insurance office, 15 Watling Street, Llanrwst LL26 0LS, tel: 01492 642683/640912.

[caption id="attachment_2509" align="aligncenter" width="294"] Caryl Edwards[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2510" align="aligncenter" width="212"] Lowri Evans[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales today branded the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) deal agreed by the UK Government as an “own-goal” which will have adverse impacts for Welsh farmers.

Following a meeting of the union’s presidential team which discussed the CAP deal in detail, FUW president Emyr Jones said: “Many of the concerns raised repeatedly by the FUW during meetings with MEPs and Commission officials have led to changes which are a massive improvement on what was originally proposed by the Commission in 2011, for example in terms of changes to greening requirement thresholds which take into account the needs of farms in Wales.

“However, this is against a background of a financial deal which will have severe implications for Wales, particularly in terms of Pillar 2 funding.”

Mr Jones said the UK had given away more of its Pillar 2 allocation than any other Member State despite the UK being entitled to a significant increase in its allocation.

“This, coupled with the abolition of co-funding requirements, means a raw deal for UK farmers compared with our competitors in other countries, and a further movement away from commonality between Member States.

“The UK Government seems oblivious or indifferent to the fact that we are within a common market and that we are therefore supposed to have a common policy. They have, in effect, succeeded in negotiating a net financial loss and flexibility which smacks of the renationalisation of agricultural policy by the back door.”

Mr Jones said the UK’s agreement to allow other Member States to increase their level of coupled support to 13% of their CAP budget’s while arguing for an 8% ceiling for the UK indicated an obsession with pursuing idealistic and unrealistic domestic aspirations without any due regard for the fact that we are part of a common market.

“It is a ridiculous negotiating position when you agree to others having more, but only on the condition that you receive less."

Mr Jones said those who claimed the UK’s settlement would not undermine UK farming and its competitiveness were being extremely naïve or disingenuous.

“It is a bad deal for Welsh farmers and rural Wales as a whole, agreed by a government whose approach to the CAP is no different to that of their predecessors.”

Time is running out for entries for the revamped Pembrokeshire Farmers' Union of Wales-Young Farmers Club Countryside Business Award recently launched by natural resources and food minister Alun Davies.

The award is for an individual 40 years of age or under who has developed their own rural-based business and who is or has been actively involved with Pembrokeshire YFC either as a member, past member, club leader or trainer.

Entries must be submitted to the FUW Pembrokeshire county office at 3 North Street, Haverfordwest, by 5pm on Wednesday July 10. Entry forms can be obtained from the office by phoning 01437 762 913.

FUW Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Voyle said: "We are looking for entries from a wide range of people including those who are farming in their own right.

"Entrants must be providing a service to the agricultural sector or people who have started a rural-based business such as cake making, electrical services, crafts or music teaching. The list is endless.

"By presenting this award we hope to highlight the fantastic work which young people are doing to keep the rural areas of Pembrokeshire vibrant and economically active places."

To be eligible for the award the individual must be:

• 40 years of age or under on January 1 2013;
• Actively involved in a rural-business based in Pembrokeshire;
• Have a link with Pembrokeshire YFC either as a member, past member, club leader or trainer.

A cash prize, perpetual trophy and a year's free membership with the FUW will be presented to the winner during the Pembrokeshire county show (August 13-15).

"Those nominating someone for the award must obtain their consent before their name is put forward," said Mrs Voyle.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today urged the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to deal with complaints about the RSPCA's Metro newspaper anti-badger cull advert by following the precedent set in 2010 when the union’s complaint over campaign group Save the Badger’s use of the word “exterminate” was upheld.

The RSPCA's advert - claiming the English badger cull pilots will "exterminate" badgers - has prompted 80 complaints to the ASA and Defra minister Richard Benyon has described the society as a disgrace for running full page adverts, free of charge, in the Metro newspaper under the headline "Vaccinate or Exterminate?"

The advert adds: “The UK Government wants to shoot England’s badgers. We want to vaccinate them - and save their lives.”  It asks the public to donate £3 to its campaign to "help save England’s badgers" and "stop the cull".

FUW bTB spokesman and vice president Brian Walters said: "Following the union's complaint regarding a similar advertisement, the ASA ruled in December 2010 that claims in newspaper advertisements placed by Save the Badger - a campaigning organisation run by Somerset-based charity Secret World Wildlife Rescue - were untrue and unsubstantiated.

“This included a complaint regarding the claim in the advert that badgers would be ‘exterminated’.”

The ASA concluded that the use of the word “exterminate” by Save the Badger was misleading and breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness) and 8.1 (Matters of opinion).

Mr Walters added: "The RSPCA's advert is just the latest example of a campaigning group misleading the general public on the issue of badger culling, and the RSPCA has previously been found guilty of using untruthful and unsubstantiated adverts to oppose badger culling.”

Mr Walters was referring to the ASA’s ruling in September 2006 which upheld complaints against the RSPCA’s “Back Off Badgers” campaign by the FUW and a Mrs Hillary Seals. Following a lengthy inquiry, the ASA found the RSPCA had breached ASA Code clauses 3.1 and 3.2 (Substantiation) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

“Despite this ruling, the RSPCA went on to make the same claims, albeit in a different wording, on their website for 12 months and in 2008 were still using consultation response figures in anti-badger cull lobbying activities which it knew to have been generated by its own untruthful and unsubstantiated campaign.

“The RSPCA have form regarding this issue, but seem to treat both the ASA and the Charity Commission - not to mention the general public - with utter contempt.”

Mr Walters said the FUW had already raised a number of serious concerns with the Charity Commission regarding the RSPCA’s campaigning activities and extreme rhetoric.

“This is just the latest example of a long list of disgraceful activities - including threats to farmers - undertaken by the RSPCA over the past decade.”

Providing advice for an innovative multimedia drama production about Welsh farming's problems of the past year has helped the Farmers' Union of Wales Carmarthenshire executive officer and her staff retain the union's annual Owen Slaymaker Award for promoting the union.

Presenting the award to Meinir Bartlett, FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts said: "Amongst the activities of the winning county, led by the county executive officer supported by all her loyal staff, were the production of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru's Tir Sir Gâr, the quality of responses to consultation papers and relationships with the Press.

"Our agricultural policy, public relations and administration departments assess each county before deciding the winner of the Owen Slaymaker Award on the basis of what's been achieved during the year and who has gone that extra mile on behalf of members.

"They look for quality of policy consultation responses, press contributions and promoting the union and its activities at every opportunity whilst taking good care of members' needs."

Seventeen years ago Mrs Bartlett succeeded Mr Slaymaker who was the FUW's Carmarthenshire county secretary from 1970-90 and county executive officer from 1990-91 when he died in office.

During the past 12 months flooding, bovine TB and cheap imports - plus the recent horsemeat scandal - have all increased the problems normally faced by the farming industry and continue to threaten livelihoods throughout rural Wales.

So when Mrs Bartlett was approached by the creators of Tir Sir Gâr - who wanted to tackle the challenges faced by a fictional farming family but with an authentic voice - she helped set up interviews for them with real farmers.

They met one FUW member who had three sons but none of them wanted to take over the farm. Another farmer had four daughters and the youngest was going to take over the farm. 

The play deals with a family facing a crisis after the father suffers a brain haemorrhage, prompting them to consider who will inherit the farm and how they will continue on running it.

It was first performed in April at St Peter’s Civic Hall, Carmarthen, from where the audiences were bussed to Carmarthenshire County Museum in nearby Abergwili where 90% of the objects on display are agriculture-related.

Mrs Bartlett said: "We were very pleased that the production of the drama was such a tremendous success. It was a unique event which offered an alternative contemporary rural vision.

"The FUW received high praise and we were warmly thanked and congratulated for our assistance by the writers. They were accompanied around farms in the county to take pictures of Dutch barns which were reconstructed and used in the performance.

"Several FUW members were also interviewed to gather their views and experiences and the production has since been adapted and shown on S4C. Indeed it proved an honour to have been involved with such a production.

"We were also very pleased that when the producer and author were interviewed for S4C's ‘Ffermio’ they stated they had received great assistance from the FUW office in Carmarthen and the programme then showed two interviews with our members."

[caption id="attachment_2498" align="aligncenter" width="245"] WINNER: Meinir Bartlett receives the Owen Slaymaker Award from Glyn Roberts[/caption]