The Farmers’ Union of Wales has honoured former FUW Vice President Brian Walters with the Union’s internal award for services to agriculture to thank him for all he has done for the industry.

Brian Walters, stood down as the FUW’s Vice-President in June following over 20 years of loyal service to the Union at local and national level.

Brian, a passionate and committed supporter of the FUW, has been a member since he started farming. He was county vice-chairman from 1995 until 1997, when he became county chairman, a position he held for two years. He is a past chairman of both the Carmarthen branch milk committee, of which he became chairman in 1995, and the union’s central milk and dairy produce committee, of which he was chairman from 1996 to 2000. He held the role of vice-president of the FUW since 2000.

He was a District Representative on Milk Marque’s South Wales Board, and then Area Representative on the Board of First Milk until 2002. Brian represented the union on the Council of the Wales Federation of YFCs and the Organic Steering Group and has given evidence on TB in cattle to the Agriculture Committee of the House of Commons and to the Environment, Planning and Countryside Committee of the National Assembly for Wales.

Brian has acted in a local drama group for 20 years and also compères local concerts. He is also an after-dinner speaker. During his time in office he has given many television and radio interviews in Welsh and English on various topics for Radio Cymru, Radio Wales, and Radio 5 Live, as well as participating in ‘Farming Today’ on Radio 4 and Jeremy Vine’s programme on Radio 2, as well as many other local radio stations.

Presenting the award on the Wednesday night of the Royal Welsh Show (July 26) FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “I wholeheartedly thank Brian for everything he has done for the FUW, the agricultural industry and our Welsh economy. His commitment and service to the Union and agriculture has been of tremendous value and we thank him for all he has done.”

Ends

Women are often overlooked for their contribution to agriculture, be it in a hands-on role, supporting the family farm or in the allied industries. The Farmers’ Union of Wales were therefore delighted to host a discussion panel highlighting the important and changing role of women in the industry at the Royal Welsh Show.

Joining the panel of speakers were Baroness Eluned Morgan, Brecon deer farmer Kath Shaw, Meirionnydd farmer and HCC board member Rachael Davies and FUW Marketing and Membership manager Teleri Fielden who has recently been announced as the next Llyndy Isaf Scholar.

Originally from just outside London, Kath Shaw farms about 80 acres in partnership with her mother. She started in the deer industry at the age of 20 with a year’s work placement with ADAS in Herefordshire.

From there she completed an ANC in Deer Management at Sparsholt College, Hampshire, worked for various people eventually ending up as Deer Stockperson for JCB in Staffordshire, in charge of a herd of 500 breeding hinds.

During a quiet moment she decided she wanted to work for herself and, after much searching, purchased their farm in Radnorshire.
Currently they have about 65 acres fenced for deer and has a breeding herd of 43 hinds, 45 yearlings for slaughter and another 40 calves born this year.

They have also erected 2 purpose-built sheds for over wintering. Future plans include reducing the age profile of the breeding herd, improving the quality of the grass and building a new handling shed.

They sell all their stock live to the Welsh Venison Centre, which are then slaughtered locally and sold through their farm shop and meat round.

Reflecting on her experience as a women in farming Kath said: “Being a woman in agriculture has advantages and disadvantages. I have experienced low-level sexism in the industry throughout my working life, but have always deflected it with humour and if that hasn’t worked, by confronting the individual concerned.

“On the plus side, being a woman in a male dominated field has made me  more memorable. In the last 10 years farming has changed to become less focussed on brawn as people are more aware of the importance of sensible working practices. This has benefitted everyone as machinery becomes more sophisticated and equipment is developed to help with the heavier jobs. There is always a solution to a problem that doesn’t involve lifting heavy weights by hand!”

Kath also believes that the future of agriculture depends on people working as a team, be they male or female. She added: “Women have always worked in the background on farms. It is often the women who feed and check the stock while their husband goes off to do a day’s work somewhere else and I see no reason why they shouldn’t take a more prominent position on the farm. True, it is not very glamourous and you are unlikely to find a female farmer with a perfect French manicure or the latest designer clothes but the job satisfaction is huge and it’s so much better than sitting in an office, staring at the same 4 walls every day.”

Despite having not grown up on a farm, Teleri Fielden has always sought out opportunities to gain farming experience. From an early age she helped out on her grandparent’s farm and more recently worked and studied on a mixed research farm in the French Rhone Alps, which included mountain shepherding at 1000 meters.

She was also short-listed and interviewed for the National Trust’s Parc Farm on the Great Orme. Teleri has varied experience within the industry, from each step of the ‘food chain’ and most recently has been working as Marketing and Membership Manager for FUW and has been awarded the Llyndy Isaf Scholarship.

“I think the fact that there are more women applying for agricultural courses now shows that the industry is less male dominated than the stereotype shows and we are increasingly represented in the industry, although there is definitely room for improvement.

“It’s more about confidence and practise really for me when it comes to the practical side of farming - and not assuming that you can’t lift this or that and need help with something. Of course being 5 foot like me does have physical limitations, which can be frustrating, but I’d like to think that my other skills and knowledge make up for that.

“I was fortunate in having some great female role models around me over the years, who inspired confidence and a ‘I can do this’ attitude.”

Rachael Davies is a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades as a politics graduate who was called to the bar specialising in employment law and commercial disputes but has been working in the food and farming sector for the past 8 years.

Rachael has held commercial roles both with an international retailer and in the independent sector, with particular focus on food marketing.

She farms beef and sheep in Meirionnydd with her husband Geraint and is involved with agriculture from grassroots to strategic board level.

“Women’s role within the agricultural industry has definitely changed in the past ten years with women being more openly and publicly involved however, there is still some distance to go. Women have been grafters and decision-makers on family farms for centuries yet in the twenty-first century we are still in the position of having to ‘prove’ ourselves or occasionally becoming pseudo-masculine to do so,” said Rachael Davies.

She adds that one of the most frustrating questions to be asked as a mother of two daughters is “wouldn’t it be nice to have a boy, for the farm!?” But she is determined to get involved, lead by example and highlight that women are just as capable as men within the agricultural industry, both physically and intellectually.

“I urge women to get involved, make things more integrated, let’s encourage, engage – women have the skills that modern farming needs; we are natural multi-taskers, good communicators and used to hard work. More women need to be involved steering the direction of the industry; feeding into stakeholder groups who are still dominated by men, usually of a certain age and demographic,” she said.

Opening the seminar was Eluned Morgan AM said: “Post-Brexit co-operation rather than competition within the agricultural community will be essential and this may come more natural to women.

“Post-Brexit we need women entrepreneurs to lead, to think big and to think bold. My message today is for women not to let politicians make all the decisions, but to play a leadership role on your farms and your communities. That’s the only way we will see positive outcomes for the challenges ahead.”

Chairing the discussions was Mariclare Carey-Jones, freelance journalist for BBC Radio 4 ‘Farming Today’. Summarising the event, she said: “Today’s discussion was an impressive demonstration of the strength and depth of skill and character amongst women in agriculture. While it was shocking to hear some of the examples of sexism that still exist in the industry, attitudes towards women in farming are undoubtedly improving. I feel positive that there’s a real determination to ensure women continue to thrive and I’m excited about the future.”

The FUW opened it’s door widely to welcome young farmers to its pavilion on the second day of the Royal Welsh Show to celebrate their future and involvement with the industry.

Succession and attracting more young people to the industry is a topic the FUW always felt passionate about and FUW Younger Voice for farming Chairman Darren Williams was enthusiastic about the feedback from the under-40s.

He said: “It was absolutely brilliant to have the younger voices of our industry join us for our networking event and listening to them about their hopes, fears, concerns and ambitions for the future. We need the next generation of farmers to be involved and let us know exactly what they want from their future industry. I thank them for joining us tonight and look forward to working with many of them shaping the future of agriculture.”

Teleri Fielden, who recently got awarded the Llyndy Isaf Scholarship joined the networking event saying: “It’s obvious from today that there are so many keen talented young people wanting to get into the industry. It’s going to be a real lost opportunity if we don’t reduce the barriers holding many of them back. Challenges like Brexit, will require the industry to think outside the box and be innovative. That’s why we must make sure that there are dynamic youngsters to continue farming the land in years to come.

“My parents don’t have a farm, so it was really challenging to try and find a way in. It would be good to see more scholarship schemes, like YFC and national Trust offer, which provide a great inroad to farming for those who may not be able to take over a family farm or who just want to run a farm in their own right.”

Rural prosperity was the key focus for FUW leaders during meetings with Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones and UK Government Secretaries of State Michael Gove and Alun Cairns at the Royal Welsh Show.

“No event better demonstrates agriculture’s role in supporting our economy than the Royal Welsh Show, where thousands of businesses which are part of the agricultural supply chain are on display.

“For every businesses at the Royal Welsh Show this week, there are hundreds more which are also reliant on agriculture,” said FUW President Glyn Roberts.

Mr Roberts said that these key messages were acknowledged by First Minister Carwyn Jones, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove and Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns and that the Union was encouraged by discussions had in bilateral meetings with the UK and Welsh government ministers.

In addition the FUW President reinforced the point that Welsh farmers were already delivering a range of environmental benefits, and that further recognition of this would be welcome, given Mr Gove’s recent indication that future farm support should focus on the delivery of environmental outcomes.

“We need to be realistic in terms of what is allowed under WTO rules and the dangers of implementing well-meaning aspirational policies which have not been properly investigated.

“We spent around six years investigating in detail ways to implement changes to the current payment regime which minimised financial disruption and economic turmoil.

“Similar care needs to be taken in terms of proposals which could be far more devastating, and we cannot be sure what an appropriate agricultural policy will look like until we know the details of the agreements currently being hammered out with the EU and others, and the detailed modelling we have called for has been carried out,” said Glyn Roberts.

Mr Roberts added that while the important work of looking to the future continued within the FUW, a further key message stressed during meetings with ministers and politicians had been the need to secure a realistic Brexit transition period.

“We need to ensure that on day one of Brexit, and during the lengthy period it is likely to take to reach agreements with the EU, things do not look particularly different for our farmers.

“ We have already called for a cross government agri summit to take place as soon as possible to address these issues and to ensure that we still have the same broad framework in terms of farm payments, devolved powers, and tariff and barrier-free access to the continental market, when we leave the European Union.”