[caption id="attachment_5640" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW delegates discuss food security issues with Secretary of State Stephen Crabb[/caption]

The importance of nurturing and supporting Welsh producers, and thereby protecting and improving domestic food security, was at the top of the agenda when Farmers’ Union of Wales delegates met the Rt Hon. Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb at a recent farm visit.

The meeting, which was held at FUW deputy president Brian Thomas’s farm at Llwyncelyn Lan, Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire on Thursday September 3, heard members express the view that the government needed to develop a competitive food security strategy for the UK. 

FUW deputy president Brian Thomas, who farms 70 beef shorthorn cattle and 150 ewes on the holding with cereals also being grown, said: “I would firstly like to thank the secretary of state for Wales Stephen Crabb for meeting with us here on the farm.

“It has been a most productive meeting and FUW members were able to use this opportunity to highlight many of the financial difficulties facing them following the recent lamb and milk price crisis.

“As part of these discussions we talked about the importance of food security and how a food security strategy plan would give farmers confidence to develop their businesses, which in turn would support the development of rural areas. 

The subject of food procurement was highlighted as an important part of a food security strategy and the Union stressed that both farmers and consumers will be subject to volatile pricing if nothing is done to better support the home industry.  Whilst the union was pleased to hear that the MOD and NHS had increased the amount of British produce they source, the FUW made clear that more must be done.

“The use of quality PGI products must be included as part of the procurement criteria for sourcing food for schools and public bodies and we would ask local, national and devolved administrations to make a greater effort in this respect.

“Farmers are custodians of the countryside and they are responsible for the important task of producing food for the nation.  However, they are vulnerable to the market place,” added Mr Thomas.  

The delegation further discussed the EU’s role in managing global oversupply and FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright emphasised that it was imperative that the market place functions in a way which ensures a future for the UK agricultural industry and that this may mean some form of supply management.

The union further highlighted that much of the cheese manufactured in the UK went into supermarket own branded packets, yet it wasn’t clear from the labelling in which part of the UK the cheese had been produced, and yet this is something that many consumers have stated that they want. 

“We were pleased to hear that Mr Crabb acknowledged that labelling is still a problem and that discussions on clear labelling were continuing.

“It is important that government recognises the value of Welsh branded products.  Agriculture has hardly featured in the UK’s export strategy under past governments but we were pleased to hear that food production is now a major and vital part of the strategy and we stressed the importance of this continuing,” said Mr Thomas.

The Farmers' Union of Wales is urging Tesco to back Welsh dairy farmers by committing to a minimum farm gate price of 28 pence per litre for cheese purchased from First Milk and South Caernarfon Creameries.

Following a meeting with industry representatives earlier this month, Tesco agreed to consider a minimum farm gate price for cheese.

“There has been a great deal of emphasis placed on liquid milk recently and we welcome moves to raise the price paid for standard milk.  However, around 80 percent of the milk processed in Wales goes into cheese production and the opportunities to provide Welsh dairy producers with better prices has therefore been limited,” said FUW milk and dairy produce chairman Dei Davies. 

“A commitment by Tesco to minimum cheese pricing would therefore provide a level of support to Welsh producers that liquid initiatives simply cannot do and would be a great boost for the sector.

“At the same time, it is imperative that consumers are confident in the origin of the cheese that they are buying and the FUW would also like to see Tesco agree to a single country of origin label on cheese.  This way, consumers can trust that the cheese they put in their basket is British,” added Mr Davies.

A decision is due to be made on this matter shortly and the FUW would urge Tesco to build on the progress already made and demonstrate a commitment to hard working Welsh producers by paying a fairer price for cheese.

[caption id="attachment_5607" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams with Ithyl and Lynda Brown and FUW president Glyn Roberts[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales members Lynda and Ithyl Brown, who run the well-known Neuadd Fach Baconry, Llandinam, are celebrating after striking gold twice in the 2015 Great Taste Awards, the Oscars of the food world.

The company won the coveted gold awards, organised annually by the Guild of Fine Food, for its Lemon and chilli sausage and bacon wrap and thin cut shoulder bacon, taking its collection of Great Taste Awards to 31.

The delicious products are produced from pigs grown and cured by the couple on the family farm in Llandinam.

“It still gives us a buzz when we win a Great Taste Award ,” said Lynda after receiving the award.

“We have been making the sausage and bacon wraps for a while now, and they are proving very popular with our customers.  So we were thrilled to win an award for them which underlines the quality of our product.

“We pride ourselves on personally handling the whole process from farm to customer and that is how we know that what we produce and supply is a totally delicious product from well looked-after pigs.”

FUW president Glyn Roberts, who sampled some of the chilli and lemon sausages at a recent BBQ, which was organised by the union during the National Eisteddfod, said: “I must congratulate Lynda and Ithyl on their achievement and recommend their products as being most delicious. I further thank them for donating the sausages and burgers for our BBQ at the National Eisteddfod, which was held to welcome our new Montgomeryshire county executive officer Emyr Wyn Davies to the union. ”

Having run the business for 20 years, the Browns have recently begun hosting visits for local groups who can see how the pigs are reared and how the products are cured.

The couple have been keeping pigs at Neuadd Fach since 1986 and started the Baconry in 1999 when pig prices collapsed and they were losing £10 a pig. 

The business was then badly affected by the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 and they were unable to send anything to the abattoir for 10 weeks. This caused terrible problems with overcrowding as of course the pigs kept coming. 

“Thanks to financial help with the cost of the additional feed by RABI and then the RSPCA to help us offload the pigs because of the overcrowding, we were able to continue our business and are pleased to see it go from strength to strength.

“We are now in a position where we can take people on tours around the business and it is nice to see that people are very interested in where their food comes from and how it’s produced. We have had wonderful reactions to the tours and welcome visitors who are interested in trying our produce,” added Mrs Brown.

[caption id="attachment_5604" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) FUW president Glyn Roberts, Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb and FUW milk and dairy produce committee chairman Dei Davies.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales and Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb joined forces yesterday (Monday, August 17) to discuss challenges facing Welsh farmers and are asking for flexible tax payments in light of the current dairy and lamb price crisis.

The price falls suffered by both lamb and dairy farmers are significant.  Whilst the recent announcements for increasing the price paid by supermarkets for liquid milk is very welcome, it deals only with a small portion of the market place.

“We had a very productive meeting yesterday and continued to stress that current price levels are not sustainable.  Mr Bebb has agreed to write to DEFRA Minister George Eustice MP, to see what short term support the sector can be offered whilst a long-term strategy is developed,” said FUW president Glyn Roberts.

The union previously welcomed the decision by the Chancellor to extend farmers averaging for tax purposes from two years to five and in a bid to help cash-struck farmers further the union is now calling on farmers to ask their accountants whether the concession could be used to protect their cash-flow.

“Farmers affected by the volatility in the market place are advised to speak to their accounts to see if the concessions can be used to help their cash-flow.  In addition Guto Bebb agreed to write to HM Customs and Revenue requesting that the ‘Time to Pay’ concession be invoked for the farming community,” added Mr Roberts.

Mr Bebb, who welcomed the opportunity to meet with the FUW, said: “Farmers want to pay their due and if tax is owing it will be paid.  However, the extreme price falls seen across dairy and lamb markets means that many farmers, expected to pay their back taxes in two annual instalments, are facing real cash-flow challenges in meeting their obligations.

“I have written to HM Customs and Revenue asking them to offer flexible time to pay agreements to ensure that farmers meet their obligations without putting any undue short-term pressures on their cash-flows.”

Mr Roberts further said that: “Current marketplace volatility has left many producers struggling to stay afloat and the Union has received calls from members extremely worried about the future viability of their businesses.

“Whilst the FUW will continue to call for both a fairer supply chain and measures to manage over supply, it is also imperative that we try to find immediate solutions to halt the number of farmers going out of business.

“The use of more flexible agreements could go some way to help mitigate the low returns being experienced by Welsh sheep and dairy farmers.”