The UK sheep industry is facing a difficult shearing season, as the Covid-19 crisis makes it highly unlikely that the usual influx of highly skilled overseas shearers will be able to travel to the UK.

It is vitally important, to safeguard the health and welfare of the British sheep flock, that we carry out shearing at certain times of the year to minimise the risk of heat stress and fly strike. It is estimated overseas shearers usually shear about 20% of the UK flock, leaving a huge hole in resource this season. However, industry organisations are working together to try and ensure that shearing can go ahead using only UK shearers.

The NAAC is hosting a matchmaking register on-line to bring together shearing contractors, who are potentially missing whole teams of overseas shearers, with skilled, proficient UK shearers to try and get the season completed. Shearers are encouraged to come forward and register whether they can give a month of time or a day!

The organisations, in partnership, are encouraging farmers to get in touch with their usual contractor to organise their shearing.

Commenting, Jill Hewitt, NAAC Chief Executive said, ‘Shearing contractors have a dual role in this Covid-19 crisis to keep shearers and customers safe, whilst supporting and providing a vital operation for sheep farmers. It is likely to be a more difficult, possibly extended season, and with Covid-19 restrictions in place, we will need more pre-planning on farms but we can do this if we all work together.’

Gareth Jones, Head of Producer Marketing at British Wool added, ‘We need the support of UK shearers and it is important that proficient individuals step forward to help in this national effort to ensure that sheep are shorn to a high standard, within necessary timescales, to avoid potential animal welfare problems.’

The website can be viewed here.

Given the scale of the global Covid-19 outbreak, it is important that all farm businesses are prepared for the possibility of family members or farm workers contracting the virus. If the worst should happen, having appropriate measures in place should help lessen the impact on your farm business. There are several schemes available which may be able to help source volunteers to undertake farm work if some members of the farm are out of action and these are listed at the end of the document.

Agreeing a plan of action before someone becomes ill will help alleviate stress and help the farm business function more efficiently until things return to normal. The plan should include who will take over the farm business and the farm work that must be prioritised.

The FUW has provided a Covid-19 preparation checklist and template farm preparation plan to help minimise business disruption should volunteers or those less familiar with current farm practise be needed to work on the farm.

FUW Covid-19 Checklist

1. Prioritise

Before Covid-19 has an impact on the farm, prioritise the work that needs doing. List the essentials that must be done in priority order and, where appropriate, update the list monthly to accommodate seasonal changes in farm practise. Leave non-essential work until the farm business is back to normal. You may need to think about how many days you would require a volunteer or helper to work on the farm and this will include undertaking repetitive tasks such as feeding animals.

2. Talk it Through

Discuss your plan with others in the farm business. Make a list of key contacts that will need to be informed if Covid-19 strikes. These should include the farm vet, contractors, suppliers, gas / electric / oil companies, the farm accountant, shearers, friends and family. Your FUW county office can also provide much needed help and assistance during this time.

3. Help the Helpers

It is important that handwashing facilities and disinfection kits are available for volunteers working on your farm. Think about the work that will need to be done and highlight the locations of important tools for the job such as handwashing facilities, keys, taps, medicines, disinfectants, chemicals and any other items that might be needed by the farm helper. Make sure that all important documents and information about the farm are easily available. This should include the priority work list, your farm contacts, the farm medicine book, the herd or flock health plan, a list of land parcels with livestock and so on.

FUW Covid-19 Farm Preparation Plan

The FUW has prepared a Covid-19 preparation document which can be placed in an easily accessible place in the farm for use by those helping run the farm if someone in the business is diagnosed with Covid-19. Download a copy of this Preparation Plan here.

Need Help? Find a Volunteer

Please note that before a volunteer can visit your farm, you must have current and valid Employers Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance. Click here to contact your local FUW Insurance Services office and ensure that you have the right cover.

Lantra Skills Matching Service

The Lantra Skills Matching Service puts businesses and potential employees in touch with each other. Click here to see the skills matching service for businesses. 

Click here to see the FAQ about the service.

Menter Mon and Conwy Cynhaliol

The Menter Mon programme in Anglesey and Gwynedd has a dedicated helpline for those needing on-farm practical support during Covid-19. Members wishing to access this service should ring 07739 948883 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The programme will contact a volunteer that has registered on their database. The volunteer will contact you for further information and guidance on what is required. As part of the programme ONLY ask that the most basic and important work be done.

This service is also available in Conwy through ‘Conwy Cynhaliol’. Those wishing to access this service should call Rhys Evans on 01492 576671 / 07733 013328 or via email on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Important information for our members and customers

All staff are currently working remotely, meaning our team are continuing with exactly the same service but over the phone/email/skype or other means of remote communication instead. 

Members and customers should continue to contact us as they would, as all our team can be contacted via the usual phone numbers. 

We will be making sure that our service levels are maintained. SAF/IACS appointments will carry on as normal but will be conducted over the phone. 

Click here to see the contact details for your local office. 

Important links relating to Covid-19:

• The TB Hub have prepared a list of FAQs regarding how TB procedures will be affected by the virus: https://tbhub.co.uk/statutory-tb-testing-of-cattle-in-gb-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
• Red Tractor Updated Covid-19 position here: https://assurance.redtractor.org.uk/contentfiles/Farmers-7085.pdf?_=637206600290507095
• Livestock Auctioneers Association LAA - 25/03/2020: https://www.laa.co.uk/news/3989/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-to-members-and-farmers/
• Business Wales (including details of coronavirus support for agricultural businesses): https://businesswales.gov.wales/coronavirus-advice/agriculture 
• Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) available through participating lenders: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils/ 
• National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC) guidance on Coronavirus: https://www.naac.co.uk/coronavirus-guidance-issued-to-contractors/
• National Milk Recording services 24/03/2020: https://www.nmr.co.uk/about-us/coronavirus
• Senedd Research Blog: https://seneddresearch.blog/2020/03/17/coronavirus-constituency-support/ 
• BVA advice to farmers and vets about safe interactions: https://www.bva.co.uk/coronavirus/coronavirus-advice-for-farm-vets-farmers-and-livestock-keepers/
• Guidance for tourism and hospitality businesses for a safe reopening: https://gov.wales/tourism-and-hospitality-businesses-guidance-phased-reopening-html 

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has written to the UK and Welsh governments calling for action to protect food producers and rural communities in light of the current Coronavirus pandemic.

In letters to UK Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice and Welsh Government Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, FUW President Glyn Roberts highlighted a range of concerns, including the need to protect UK food security and primary producers, as well as concerns over access to the countryside.

The pandemic has had a varied impact on food supply chains, with panic buying and other factors lead to shortages of certain foodstuffs, while sales of produce through cafes and other outlets have plummeted - factors that have increased market volatility and already led to price cuts for many milk producers.

“With such impacts likely to continue for many months at a time when the importance of maintaining UK food security has rapidly been brought into sharp focus, we believe it is essential that those businesses producing what is, next to water, our most essential commodity should be supported,” wrote Mr Roberts.

Former Farmers’ Union of Wales Deputy President, Brian Thomas, has been elected as a life member of the Union at a recent Grand Council meeting in Aberystwyth in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Union and Welsh agriculture over many years.  A Pembrokeshire beef and sheep farmer, Brian Thomas has previously received the Union’s annual internal award for his services to the agricultural industry.

The recommendation that he be made a life member was accepted unanimously by the Union’s Grand Council.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Brian has been a rock solid friend and working partner for over 20 years. He is always willing to help, support and give advice. Over the years Brian has gone above and beyond in serving not just this Union but the industry as a whole. It is fair to say that the industry in Wales has benefited greatly from Brian’s active lobbying and efforts to make our sector a better place for everyone involved.”

Brian is a past county chairman of the FUW in Pembrokeshire, and has previously sat on the FUW’s central tenant’s committee. He was elected South Wales member of the central finance and organisation committee in 2011, Vice President of the FUW in 2013 and Deputy President in 2015.

During the 1996 BSE outbreak, Mr Thomas led the campaign in South West Wales opposing the importation of inferior beef into Wales.  In 1997 he led a group of farmers to Tesco’s stand at the Royal Welsh Show to address them about the unfair way in which they were treating the industry and he has been a leading figure in the fight against bovine TB.

Farmers in Wales have voiced their anger and frustration following a BBC Countryfile programme broadcast on Sunday 15 March entitled ‘Looe Harbour’.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “We have once again received many complaints from our members about the latest BBC Countryfile programme, which adopted an unbalanced approach in reporting on the current Red Tractor Assurance Scheme. This has led to both anger and disappointment amongst the farming community.”

The criticism is just the latest in a long line of complaints about unbalanced BBC reporting, including by the Countryfile programme, and many farmers have reported that they have long since stopped watching the programme due to its ‘inherent bias against farming’.

Farmers from Anglesey have raised concerns about the future of farming with local MP Virginia Crosbie in light of the ongoing uncertainty on trade deals, food imports and the lack of frameworks in the UK.

In a meeting with the MP, who also sits on the Agriculture Bill Committee, Farmers’ Union of Wales officials highlighted that the Agriculture Bill does nothing to ensure food imported to the UK meets UK standards - despite previous ministerial assurances that imported food would meet our standards.

FUW Anglesey county chairman Richard Williams said: “We are very concerned about the direction of travel for agriculture. Hearing Farming Minister Victoria Prentis referring to the risk of 'creating considerable uncertainty' by legally protecting food production standards in trade deals, is a worry to say the least.

“In reality it is the UK Government which would be proactively creating such uncertainty by taking a position on trade which deliberately abandons our EU export markets and severs the established supply chains which extend across Europe. It's within their gift to avoid such uncertainty, and we urged Mrs Crosbie to do all she could to help protect our farmers and consumers from a flood of poor quality food products.”

FUW Anglesey County Vice Chairman William Spencer Hughes added: “We work very hard and to very strict rules and regulations. Some of the food that could land on our supermarket shelves from abroad will have been produced to standards that are illegal here. It may make these food items cheaper in some cases, but it’s a false economy given that would undermine our own food security, increase environmental damage and food miles and fail to protect our consumers. As food producers, we are committed to keeping up standards. Our way of producing food in a safe and sustainable way must be protected.”