The Farmers' Union of Wales today warned farmers to double check their Single Application Form (SAF) acknowledgment letters to make sure they do not lose out due to computer scanning errors or if any of the information is incorrect.

"Although the busy time of completing SAF forms came to an end on May 15, it is imperative that farmers look carefully at the acknowledgement letter they receive from their Welsh Government Divisional Office," said FUW’s Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

"Farmers who have submitted their forms early will have already received their acknowledgement as receipts are usually sent within 10 days of submission.

"But those who have submitted their forms in the days running up to May 15 will not have received acknowledgements by now so it's vitally important that they make sure they get a receipt and when it is to hand that it is checked for accuracy.

"The receipt gives a summary of the claim, detailing the schemes claimed and a list of the fields, stocking numbers etc. The acknowledgement letter is also an opportunity to detect any scanning errors.

"Any missing data should be notified to the Divisional Office before June 10 to allow an amendment, although this could attract a late claim penalty.

"In past years a number of SAF scanning errors were discovered by FUW county executive offices across Wales and had they gone unnoticed members could have lost a significant amount of money. Thankfully, our staff and members spotted them by cross-checking against photocopies of original SAF forms.

"Every year the FUW deals with members who have been debited large amounts due to minor errors on extremely complicated forms and some end up losing sums that are equivalent to their entire annual incomes.

"Very few of those people get their money back due to the strict enforcement of EU rules relating to obvious errors and exceptional circumstances, and checking these statements and reporting errors is the one and only chance people get to prevent this happening."

Welsh farmers are concerned about the findings of a new report which claims wildlife in Wales is in crisis despite a legacy of many years of agri-environmental management schemes. the Farmers' Union of Wales stressed today.

The State of Nature report, launched in Cardiff last night by TV and wildlife presenter Iolo Williams alongside Welsh conservation charities, concludes wildlife in Wales is at a crisis point.

Scientists from 25 wildlife organisations have compiled a stock take of our native species - the first of its kind in Wales and the UK.

Their report reveals that across the UK, 60% of the species studied have declined over recent decades and it is suspected this trend is mirrored in Wales.

"Obviously, we are concerned about some of the issues raised by the report, particularly as so many farmers in Wales have embraced agri-environmental schemes and management," said FUW land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams.

"Despite the difficulties associated with the current Glastir Scheme, many farmers have historically embraced agri-environmental schemes and it is therefore extremely concerning that the report suggests that some species are in decline.

"The union believes that it is extremely important that the environmental management that farmers are contracted to do in good faith is recognised and that the impact of the recent trend towards de-stocking the uplands for example is addressed as a matter of some urgency.

"It's clear from the report that there needs to be more Wales-specific data available on the state of some of these species as there is great potential for farmers and conservationists to work together to balance the needs of biodiversity with food production and food security in the future."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today welcomed a recommendation by MPs that legislation should be introduced to protect farmers from farmgate milk price cuts if improvements fail to materialise under the existing dairy voluntary code of practice.

In a report published today, the Commons Welsh Affairs Committee says the voluntary code must be given a chance to work but, if tangible improvements are not forthcoming, the Government must be prepared to legislate.

"Although the code comes with quite a lot of caveats, we do support it and are willing to give it a chance," said FUW senior policy officer Hazel Wright. "But what we need to look at is some form of legislation that will come in swiftly if the code does not work.”

Dr Wright said that evidence was already emerging regarding processors opting out of the code, in full or in part.

"As such, there needs to be the threat of legislation and I think that will help push the code forward.

"The ability of the code to work for every producer to the same degree is probably limited and we have concerns that purchasers will cherry-pick elements of the code that they want and leave producers in a slightly worse position."

Dr Wright said the recently-established Groceries Adjudicator’s powers should also be expanded. "We would like to see a system whereby the dairy code is properly policed so that we can tell straightaway if the purchasers are cherry-picking and if they are not playing fair,” she added.

In written evidence to the committee the union stated that Wales has about 1,900 dairy farmers - about 20% of the total amount in England and Wales - yet the number of farmers has declined steadily since the end of the last century.

Compared to 2002 there are 40% fewer dairy farmers in Wales and last summer the industry suffered a major crisis caused by price cuts announced by retailers and processors. Although some price cuts were later withdrawn, the long-term sustainability of the industry remains uncertain.

[caption id="attachment_2393" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dilwyn and Geraint (right) Jenkins in the milking parlour at Cerrigcaranau Farm, Talybont, near Aberystwyth[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2394" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Before taking evidence at Aberystwyth University last November, Welsh Affairs Committee members paid a 45-minute visit to 510-acre Cerrigcaranau Farm at nearby Talybont to hear the views of dairy farmer and FUW member Dilwyn Jenkins and his sons Eifion (29) and Geraint (25). Pictured (from left) are FUW vice president Brian Walters, farmer's son Geraint Jenkins, Mark Williams MP, David Davies MP, Jonathan Edwards MP, FUW Ceredigion county executive officer Caryl Wyn-Jones and farmer's son Eifion Jenkins in discussions.[/caption]

A “Question Time” session entitled “Supporting Future Farmers in Wales” will take place during Farmers’ Union of Wales Carmarthenshire county branch's annual general meeting on Monday June 3 at Llanarthne Hall (7.30pm).

The panel will consist of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards, FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts, Agri Advisors Solicitors director Dr Nerys Llewelyn Jones and Carmarthenshire YFC rural affairs committee chairman Iestyn Davies.

For further details contact FUW's Carmarthenshire county office on 01267 237974.

Two 16-year-olds studying at the same North Wales agricultural college who both run their own sheep flock have been chosen as the first winners of the Farmers' Union of Wales £1,500 bursary for further education students.

Winner of the £1,000 first prize, Dafydd Fôn Ifan, lives on the family farm, T? Mawr, Llanrhaeadr, Denbigh, and runner-up Miriam Elan Davies, of Maenarthur, Pontrhydygroes, Ceredigion, received £500. Both attend Llysfasi College, near Ruthin, Denbighshire.

Dafydd's family keep around 1,200 sheep and 20 beef cattle. He studies Agriculture Level 3 on four days a week and works on the family farm on the other three days.

His main hobby is breeding 50 Texel sheep and selling rams and store lambs after researching genetics on the internet. He hopes to join the family farming business in the future and increase the flock.

He enters his own stock at the local show and last year won first prize with store lambs and reserve champion with sheep in the young farmers’ section.

"I would like to continue to further develop my skills in agriculture so winning the bursary means so much to me as a young farmer," he said after receiving the award during last weekend's Royal Welsh Spring Festival.

"Farming is an industry that needs to be financially strong in order to thrive. It’s vitally important to continue to invest in order to expand my business which is separate to the family business.

"Winning the bursary is a massive boost to my hopes of managing a flock of sheep successfully," he added.

"The money provides me with an opportunity to invest in new and better genetics by using artificial insemination or an embryo transplant for my sheep that would improve their quality and performance, as well as quickly increasing my flock."

Miriam, who also studies Agriculture Level 3, decided to buy some sheep to start her own flock after her parents gave up farming on their 300-acre upland farm.

"I started with 30 Welsh ewes in 2010 but now the flock has increased to 75 consisting of a mixture of pure Welsh sheep, Speckles, Welsh Mules and halfbreds.

"Being selected as runner-up will enable me to buy new stock to increase my flock further. At the moment, I'm concentrating on breeding quality ewe lambs to increase my flock.

"I use a Bluefaced Leicester ram on Welsh ewes and Speckles to get Welsh Mules, but I’m looking at buying Aberdales sheep as they are very fertile sheep with a high lambing percentage, 180-200 per cent. They would offer a high number of ewe lambs to keep for breeding.

"The Aberdales also rear store lambs of a good conformation, so I would get a good slaughter price for ram lambs. I also hope to increase my flock of Speckles in order to prove if the Welsh or Speckles ewes rear the best Welsh Mules out of a Bluefaced Leicester ram.

"I believe that there is a good opportunity whilst I’m studying at the college to experiment with different breeds and systems. I enjoy learning about the different ways of breeding sheep and the different breeding bloodlines.

"The bursary money will give me a strong base to plan a successful future for myself as a sheep farmer," added Miriam, who is an active member of Trisant YFC.

Presenting the awards, FUW agricultural education and training committee chairman Alun Edwards said the union's student bursary scheme was revamped last year with a total of £3,000 being divided between university and further education students.

"The union was keen to attract more applications from further education students so we doubled the total bursary amount available to make sure we had more entries from that sector," he said.

Praising the entries of the two finalists, Mr Edwards said the bursary judges were looking forward to closely following their respective future careers.

"There remains a problem in our schools as to how agriculture is perceived so it's a big responsibility of ours to further agriculture as a career.

"There is potentially a good career in farming and both finalists have expressed this very firmly in their written entries and they have also shown they are very interested in their local community and giving something back."

[caption id="attachment_2387" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Students Dafydd Fôn Ifan and Miriam Elan Davies with (from left) bursary judges Alun Edwards, Dafydd Williams and FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2388" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Miriam Elan Davies and Dafydd Fôn Ifan.[/caption]

A €2m southern Irish government scheme to help its farmers to import fodder from the UK and other EU countries is distorting the market for Welsh farmers also in desperate need of fodder, the Farmers' Union of Wales claimed today.

The imported fodder transport scheme has been established due to the severe shortages in the republic caused by severe weather over the past 12 months.

But the problems facing Welsh farmers are no different and are, in fact, being exacerbated by the Irish scheme, says the union.

“Farmers throughout Wales are still struggling due to the impact of the weather over the past year, particularly since mid-March, and fodder continues to be a real problem on every type of farm here," said FUW hill farming and marginal land committee chairman Derek Morgan, of Llangurig, Powys.

“The FUW wrote to the Welsh Government in December warning of these shortages and their impact and calling for some kind of fodder scheme to be introduced.

“It now seems that the Irish have taken the initiative to help their farmers, but the scheme is specifically targeted at subsidising imports of fodder from the UK and other EU regions, excluding Northern Ireland.

“With fodder already in short supply, the removal of fodder from the UK market through the Irish subsidisation of haulage costs is of course distorting the market - it is basic supply and demand economics.

“We have every sympathy with Irish farmers facing the same problems as we are, but it cannot be right if the help their government is providing is making matters worse for our farmers.”

Mr Morgan said that the FUW had already made representations to the Welsh Government regarding the scheme and would seek to stop any measures which merely add to the dire problems faced by Welsh farmers.

Eire agriculture and food minister Simon Coveney last week announced he was extending the deadline for applications for funding under the imported fodder transport scheme to May 24 and doubling the fund to €2m.

The scheme was introduced to reduce the cost to farmers of imported forage from outside the island of Ireland. It is operating through the dairy co-operatives (milk purchasers) and covers forage imported by the co-ops from between April 15 and May 24.

It is claimed that the scheme is subject to EU State Aid rules, will substantially cover the cost of transport into the country and reduce the cost to farmers of a bale of hay by approximately one third.