Children’s knowledge on the role of bees in agricultural production will be tested on the Farmers’ Union of Wales stand at next week’s three-day Pembrokeshire county show (August 14-16).

Youngsters will be encouraged to take part in a quiz on the stand based on facts about the role of bees in agricultural production and the union hopes to resolve some of the negative perceptions surrounding farming and its impact on the bee population.

Visitors to the stand will also have the opportunity to see all the entries received by the union’s county branch for its schools photographic competition. The winners, runners-up and their respective schools will be presented with their prizes at noon on Wednesday (August 15).

The county branch’s 2013 charity calendar will be officially launched at the same time as the competition winners receive their prizes and the calendars will be on sale at £5 each with all proceeds raised going to this year’s FUW charity Cancer Research Wales.

Environment Agency Wales staff will be on the stand every day between 10am and 2pm to provide advice to farmers on a wide range of issues from the benefits of soil testing to the construction of new slurry stores.

Carmarthenshire County Council’s rural development team will be represented at the stand promoting various initiatives available for Carmarthenshire-based farmers.

Davis Meade Property Consultants and E-ON will offer advice on a variety of issues including rent reviews, compensation claims, on-farm renewable energy options and providing information about an energy cost savings initiative for FUW members.

“The union is also looking forward to meetings local AMs and MPs during the show to raise issues of local concern including the proposed referendum on staying in Europe and the potential impact on agriculture, TB and milk prices,” said the union’s Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Voyle.

The Farmers' Union of Wales will challenge Anglesey County Show visitors' taste buds in a Burger Taste Test over the two days of the show (August 14-15).

On the first day visitors will get the chance to taste three beef burgers consisting of the cheaper supermarket value pack range, supermarket middle choice brand and top of the range locally-sourced beef burgers from animals in the "Anglesey Grazing Animals Partnership" scheme.

On the following day visitors can challenge their lamb taste knowledge by sampling lamb burgers sourced locally from Dolmeinir Meats, Tregeian, as well as the supermarket versions.

"It will be  interesting to find out which choice of burger comes out on top. One just never knows what quality the public would opt for if they weren't actually going into their pockets to buy the products," said FUW Anglesey county executive officer Heidi Williams.

The taster sessions will take place between 11.30am and 12.30pm during the two-day event and "tasters" will be asked to vote for their tastiest burger.

The winners will be revealed after 3pm on each day of the show.

The Farmers' Union of Wales stand (No 115-116) will be a hive of activity during the National Eisteddfod at Llandow in the Vale of Glamorgan (August 4-August 11) when visitors will be taken back in time by displays of farming tools and photographs.

They will have a chance to guess the names and functions of the old farming tools and see photographs of  the renovation of agricultural machinery to working standard supplied by FUW member Lydric Jenkins.

The stand will feature some of Mr Jenkins' lifetime interest in demonstrating the committed and dedicated work of Welsh farmers.

Eisteddfodwyr will also be encouraged to show their support for Welsh dairy farmers by signing an open letter to supermarkets and milk processors emphasising the need for all those involved in the dairy supply chain to work together to ensure an acceptable and sustainable price is received by all.

A life-size model of the dairy cow Tegwen - Welsh for "fair" and "white" - painted in the colours of the Welsh flag will highlight the FUW campaign to achieve a fair farmgate price for milk during the festival.

In support of the union's fair dairy campaign a variety Welsh organic flavoured milk drinks, produced in Pembrokeshire by family-run company Trioni Ltd and donated by Daioni, will be available for children to sample.

"As the Eisteddfod is an eclectic mix of old and new, as well as a celebration of Wales and its culture, we are excited to celebrate heritage farming methods by providing visitors with an insight into the techniques that farmers used to produce our food," said FUW Glamorganshire county executive officer Rachel Taylor.

"We are extremely pleased to support the Eisteddfod in the county of Glamorgan and welcome all visitors to the FUW stand over the week-long festival for refreshments," added Miss Taylor. 

The union's property consultants Davis Meade and energy company E-ON have also teamed up with the FUW to provide visitors with energy assessments of their farming enterprises and ensure that farmers are receiving the best possible price for their supply of electricity.

The FUW will also be promoting its new student bursary scheme which is now offered to higher and further agricultural education students.

The Farmers' Union of Wales insurance services arm is inviting union members and the public to join them at this year's Oswestry Show on August 4.

The show takes place at the Showground, Park Hall, Oswestry, and it is the first time for FUW Insurance to attend an event outside Wales as exhibitors.

Oswestry Show is one of the leading one-day agricultural shows in the UK and the FUW will be sharing its stand with the union's property consultants Davis Meade.

The event attracts crowds of over 15,000 from both side of the Welsh and English border.

"This is an excellent opportunity for us to promote FUW Insurance services across the border and we would like to invite FUW members and show visitors to join us on the stand during the day for refreshments and a chat," said FUW operations director Mark Roberts.

Farmers have been invited to visit the newly-opened British Polythene Industries (BPI) multi-million pound investment recycling facility in Glamorganshire on Tuesday August 28 at 10.30am.

BPI, who officially opened the plant in March this year, has invested substantially in the state-of-the-art, waste wash plant at its Rhymney factory and Birch Farm Plastic collection have invited FUW members to visit the factory.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our members to view the recycling process first hand and see how the new plant will be used to recycle waste such as used agricultural plastics into products like refuse sacks, sheep feeders, stiles and gates," said FUW Glamorganshire county executive officer Rachel Taylor.

Birch Farm Plastic Collection is a family run business specialising in collecting plastic waste from farms for recycling. Along with the collection from farms, they have collection sites where farmers can take along their waste for a fee.

The collection site operators sort and bale the polythene and arrange the transport to deliver the material in to BPI.

"Many farmers struggle to dispose of plastic from items such as silage wrap, feed bags, fertiliser bags and polytunnels. Visiting this plant will show them an effective, environmentally friendly way of solving this problem," added Miss Taylor.

For more information contact Rachel Taylor on 01446 774838.

[caption id="attachment_3879" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Signing the Commitment for Change, FUW vice president Brian Walters with FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts, FUW president Emyr Jones and Dairy Farmers’ Together supporter Ian Smith.[/caption]

Farmers' Union of Wales members and officials joined dairy farmers from across the UK at a rally in Scotland yesterday to support the concept of a Dairy Farmers' Together umbrella group.

The proposed united UK dairy farmers' association, which will allow collaboration and communication between producer groups, was one of the key elements put forward at the rally in Lanark.

The Dairy Farmers' Together association would use partners within the UK to develop collaboration between individual dairy farmers and groups of producers in a bid to achieve a fair milk price and improve the effectiveness of existing producer representative bodies.

Dairy Farmers' Together would be open to all producers whether co-operatives, producer organisations, aligned or non-aligned.

Following the rally a large number of milk producers, including FUW's milk and dairy produce committee chairman Dei Davies and vice president Brian Walters, signed a Commitment for Change form to demonstrate their support for the association.

Mr Davies said: "Processors and retailers have now been challenged and it is time that they recognised that the producer is the backbone of the dairy supply chain.

"It is time the producer received their fair share.

"The concept of Dairy Farmers' Together represents a united industry voice and, in large numbers, the tools represented by this association would be useful and give real power in negotiations," added Mr Davies.

"Dairy Farmers Together should produce a sense of solidarity that will help underpin milk price."

NFU Scotland milk committee vice chairman Rory Christie said the new association will empower the individual to send a collective message to improve price negotiations because critical mass is power.

"Although this is not a quick fix, Dairy Farmers' Together aims to create useable tools to reduce the current unfairness in the dairy supply chain.

"The association would bring the best minds in the UK together to work as a collaborative high level group to provide solutions to improve the prosperity of the UK dairy sector," added Mr Christie.

The Scottish Government have committed £100,000 to aid the development of the association and the FUW will be writing to deputy agriculture minister Alun Davies asking that Wales makes the same commitment.