As the General Election approaches, the FUW, jointly with NFU Cymru and Wales YFC, have arranged 15 hustings across Wales to provide our members with an opportunity to question their local candidates on Welsh farming and rural matters.

Welsh farming is at an important crossroads which will determine its future for decades to come.

The Farmers Union of Wales is delighted to announce that Gareth Parry has been appointed as Head of Policy just a few days before his wedding.

It was a double celebration for Gareth, born and bred in Llanfarian near Aberystwyth, as he and Catrin, the FUW headquarters Office Manager, were recently married. They have already settled on the family's dairy, beef and sheep farm in Llanafan, Ceredigion.

Mona Dairy have announced an uncertain future for their milk suppliers after failing to secure funding from stakeholders and have advised their milk suppliers that an alternative milk processing company will be processing milk in an interim period.

The facility is powered by renewable energy and has the potential to produce 30,000 tonnes of continental cheese a year. Mona Dairy’s commitment to drive down the carbon footprint of cheese production saw them being the first in the UK to utilise electric lorries for milk collections.

Organic farmland increases in the EU

Land used for organic agricultural production accounted for 10.5% of the EU’s total farmland in 2022, a 79% increase in organic farmland between 2012 and 2022.

France leads with the highest number of organic hectares among EU countries, 2.9 million in 2022, accounting for 17% of the bloc’s total, followed by Spain (2.7 million hectares), Italy (2.3 million) and Germany (1.6 million). Ireland, Bulgaria, and Malta had less than 5% of their land under organic farming in 2022.