[caption id="attachment_4562" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Rees Roberts[/caption]

Farmers' Union of Wales stalwart Rees Roberts has been awarded the prestigious Royal Smithfield Club Bicentenary Trophy in recognition of his lifelong service to the red meat industry both in Wales and across the UK.

Mr Roberts is a former chairman of the FUW's national hill farming committee and the union's president Emyr Jones said today: "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind and that of many other FUW members and supporters that Rees fully deserves to receive this honour and to be recognised in this way by his peers.

"He is a popular and highly respected figure in Welsh and UK agricultural circles and has enthusiastically held a variety of public offices. He has served British farming interests well for many years."

Mr Roberts, who farms at Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant, near Oswestry, was presented with his award at a lunch at the Butcher's Hall, London, by the chairman of the Royal Smithfield Club Angus Stovold who highlighted his unstinting work within the red meat industry.

Mr Roberts was the founding chairman of Hybu Cig Cymru, a position he held from its inception in 2003 until his retirement from the post last autumn. Prior to that he had been Meat and Livestock Commission Commissioner for Wales and Chair of the Welsh Committee.

Additionally, he has been Chair of the Welsh Sheep Strategy, a member of the Welsh Assembly Food and Drink Advisory Group, a member of Welsh Assembly/WDA Agri Food Partnership Advisory Committee and chairman of Welsh Beef and Lamb Promotions.

He has also been voted Food Personality of the Year by Food and Industry Magazine and received an FUW award for services to Welsh agriculture.

Mr Roberts is aged 59 and was awarded the OBE in 2002 for services to agriculture. Married to Sally, the couple have two daughters - Bethan and Ceri.

[caption id="attachment_4559" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Alun Edwards[/caption]

County delegates to the Farmers' Union of Wales agricultural education and training committee have visited the Glynllifon campus of Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, near Caernarfon, as part of the committee's remit to maintain links with agricultural and land-based colleges across Wales.

Earlier, they re-elected Meirionnydd delegate Alun Edwards, who runs a mountain beef and sheep farm at Rhydymain, near Dolgellau, as committee chairman and were then taken on a tour of the facilities by Caernarfon delegate and Glynllifon campus development director Eurwyn Edwards.

The campus has recently secured £10.3m of funding to improve the facilities available to students. Some £2.3m of this money has been spent on refurbishing the Glanarfon building - where the meeting was held - and the student hostel.

The tour included a visit to the newly-built £8m "Learning Village" which houses a range of modern and up-to-date teaching facilities, classrooms, computer rooms and a library.

The new eco-friendly building has been designed to comply with the BREEAM Excellent standard (BREEAM sets the standard for best practice in sustainable building design, construction and operation) and makes use of solar voltaic panels, is heated using a biomass boiler and uses rainwater collection. This is all topped off with a roof covered in vegetation.

Great care was needed during the construction of the building to prevent the disturbance of a nearby roost of lesser horseshoe bats thought to be one of the largest in Europe.

While some minor completion works are still needed, mainly to the information technology and interactive teaching equipment, the building was open to students and was equipped with the latest technology and facilities.

The tour of the campus was concluded with a trip around the college farm including visits to the dairy farm, woodland areas, grazing fields and the site were the Urdd National Eisteddfod will be held in 2012.

FUW president Emyr Jones, who joined the delegates on the tour, said: "I was very much impressed by what I saw and heard.

"Thanks to this multi-million pound investment the campus now features a wide range of modern teaching aids designed to provide the next generation of young farmers with the vital skills they need to join our industry which must encourage new blood at every opportunity."

Gwent delegate Jenny Cockitt, of Duffryn, Llanellen, Abergavenny, was elected vice chairman of the committee.

[caption id="attachment_4555" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Some of the walkers on the pebble beach alongside Cardigan Bay at Llanrhystud nearing the end of their three-mile walk.[/caption]

The first fund-raising event for Farmers’ Union of Wales president Emyr Jones’ chosen charity - Cancer Research Wales - was a roaring success with more than £2,000 raised.

Around 100 FUW members and supporters of all ages took part in a three-mile walk at Morfa Farm, Llanrhystud, Ceredigion, and at the end many lit a candle in memory of their loved ones.

“This was our first fund-raising event and it was lovely to see old friends and a few new faces who wanted to come out and support the charity on the day,” said Mr Jones.

“I wish to thank everyone who took part and made the day so special for the union and Cancer Research Wales.

“We are looking forward to many more fund-raising events over the next year and hope to have as much support for those as we have had for this one ,” added Mr Jones.

This year's Farmers' Union of Wales Denbighshire county branch annual dinner will be held at the White Waters Hotel, Llangollen, at 7.30pm on Friday, November 18.

Branch chairman Eryl Hughes said: "Our members are looking forward to the annual dinner and to welcoming colleagues from all over Wales."

Dilwyn Morgan, a well-known Welsh comedian and compere for S4C Noson Lawen and various television and radio programmes across Wales, will provide the entertainment.

FUW members from all over Wales are welcome to attend the dinner. Tickets are available from the FUW Denbighshire office 01824 707198, priced at £20 each.

The Farmers' Union of Wales insurance arm has grown rapidly within four years of being set up to become the third largest insurance broker in Wales, the union revealed today.

FUW Insurance Services are also celebrating being listed as one of the 100 largest brokers in the whole of the UK in the latest edition of the "Top 100 Independent Brokers" supplement published by Insurance Age magazine today.

"Being listed in this prestigious publication is a major achievement but to have done so within such a relatively short time after setting up as a broker is particularly pleasing," said FUW operations director Mark Roberts.

The Aberystwyth-based business has 13 branch offices across Wales and employs 30 field staff and 12 at head office specialising in insurance cover for all forms of farming and rural trades.

"We aim to be the number one rural insurance broker in Wales for personal insurance, commercial insurance as well as farm insurance and this listing has given us a greater impetus to provide our clients with excellent insurance solutions supported by a high level of personal service on a local basis through our network of area officers," Mr Roberts added.

FUW president Emyr Jones said: "The listing is good news for our members and ensures that the FUW is ideally placed to meet the needs of our existing members and to encourage the recruitment of new members wishing to gain access to our broker panel members and their services."

Contact your nearest FUW Insurance Services area officer by clicking on www.fuw.org.uk or calling 01970 820820.

The Farmers' Union of Wales today urged people living in the countryside to be vigilant for any suspicious activity after a farmer reported a case of sheep rustling on the Black Mountain near Brynamman, Carmarthenshire.

Hugh Davies, 67, and his 61-year-old wife Mary noticed 150 sheep were missing from their 1,000-head flock when they collected them from the mountain at the end of October.

They reported the theft to the police a fortnight ago and a reward of £5,000 has been offered for any information leading to the recovery of the sheep or conviction of the thieves.

"The problem is that the sheep are not replaceable if they have not been bred on the mountain. We are now keen to highlight this problem that is causing havoc among sheep farmers," said Mr Davies.

"To get the sheep off the mountain you need very good dogs and I suspect that someone who knows what they are doing is watching me closely.

"A few years ago, when we were enrolled in a scheme to cut scrapie, all our sheep were registered and we didn't lose any at all during those years. It makes you think.

"We usually lose about 30-40 sheep a year and some of our neighbours have also lost some stock this year but nothing to this extent has ever happened to us before," added Mr Davies.

Dyfed Powys Police confirmed they are investigating the theft of 150 sheep from the Black Mountain between Upper Brynamman and Gwynfe between the end of May and October 25.

The actual time of the theft is difficult to pinpoint due to the terrain and the amount of time between gatherings

"Prevention of rural crime such as this can be tackled but it needs the farmers, police and the wider rural communities to work together to combat it," said Sgt Matthew Howells, who represents the police on rural issues.

"The current prices sheep are fetching, although good news for the farming industry, does then lend itself as being a target for criminals intent on making money from their criminality.

"If we can work with the farming community in setting up Farm Watch schemes as recently showcased in North Ceredigion then we will hopefully be on the right track to reduce rural crime.

"I would be very interested in helping the community affected here to set up a Farm Watch scheme along with the local Neighbourhood Policing Team."

FUW president Emyr Jones said sheep rustling is an extremely disturbing development and a huge problem for Welsh farmers. A survey carried out by the union in 2004 revealed thousands of sheep were being stolen from farms across Wales over the course of a year.

The problem is much more widespread than thought, with the majority of stolen animals believed to end up in unlicensed abattoirs and slaughtered illegally.

"The FUW is urging everyone to be vigilant for any suspicious activity in the countryside and to use the latest camera phone technology in a bid to help the police catch the thieves," said Mr Jones.

The FUW's 2004 survey revealed a large number of thefts over the year. In Llangynidr, near Abergavenny, more than 1,000 sheep were stolen. The Brecon to Builth Wells area saw 487 sheep reported stolen, while seven cattle disappeared in the Sennybridge area.

In Monmouthshire, 570 sheep were reported stolen to the police from six farms and farmers in Llandinam, near Newtown, reported the theft of 150 ewes. Two farms at Ponterwyd, near Aberystwyth, suffered the theft of 115 sheep 23 went missing from a farm in Llandysul.

Some 270 sheep were reported stolen from a farm in Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire. In many cases the rustlers were taking 10-20 sheep out of a flock of more than 100 so that the thefts were not immediately noticed. The figures were based on the number of sheep reported stolen to the police - the true figure could be much higher.