Meirionnydd FUW kicked off their branch activities in 2018 with a visit to the younger generations of farmers in the Trawsfynydd area, accompanied by local Member of Parliament Liz Saville-Roberts. Also present during the visit was FUW Meirionnydd County Chairman, Geraint Davies, who also chairs the FUW’s Younger Voice for Farming Committee nationally, and Gwynedd County Councillor Elfed Roberts, who represents the Trawsfynydd ward.
The purpose of the visit was to give young farmers an opportunity to express their hopes and aspirations for the future, especially in view of the challenges faced by Brexit. A total of six farms were visited and, following the welcome and introductions, the focus of the discussion on every farm was the current state of the agricultural industry, the future of Welsh Government funding for agriculture, especially schemes such as Glastir, the low prices for lamb sold from hill farms and the need for more effective marketing.
The day’s visits coincided with the announcement made by Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at the Oxford Farming Conference regarding post-Brexit farming funding, and there was a lot of discussion on the content of his speech and questions were raised about how this related to the position in Wales.
FUW’s Younger Voice for Farming Committee chairman Geraint Davies said: “This was a great opportunity to hear at first hand the concerns of our younger members. Their views are extremely important to us, and we urge them to fully participate in our meetings in the future, since we are talking about their future. We are extremely grateful to Liz Saville-Roberts for spending the day with us, and hope similar arrangements can be replicated in other areas in the near future.”
Liz Saville-Roberts MP added: “It was a privilege to visit farms in the Trawsfynydd area. I know as an MP that this is a real time of concern for farmers, with Brexit, uncertainty for funding, future and policies. The opportunity to talk to young people who are enthusiastic about the future for agriculture and their Welsh speaking communities was invaluable and, although this is a challenging time, today has been very useful and very interesting.”
