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Farmers' Union of Wales Carmarthenshire county executive officer Meinir Bartlett[/caption]
An award in memory of the Farmers' Union of Wales top officer in Carmarthenshire for over 20 years has been won by the current county executive officer Meinir Bartlett and her Carmarthen-based team.
Meinir picked up the Owen Slaymaker Award given annually to the county branch that has best promoted the interests of members and the union at every opportunity and effectively raised the union's profile through organised events, functions and meetings.
Mr Slaymaker was the FUW's Carmarthenshire county secretary from 1970-90 and county executive officer from 1990-91 when he died in service.
Presenting the award to Meinir at the FUW's recent annual general meeting, new president Emyr Jones said: "Our agricultural policy, public relations and administration departments assess the winner on the basis of what’s been achieved during the year and who has gone that extra mile on behalf of members.
"They look for quality of policy consultation responses, press contributions and promoting the union and its activities at every opportunity, whilst taking good care of members’ needs."
In addition to farm visits and many other activities, Meinir and her team organised two events at Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, including a fund-raising dinner and an “Agriculture & Countryside” display during a Scarlets v Ulster match when a Welsh Black bull was paraded around the pitch.
Meinir joined the FUW 15 years ago after working for the Milk Marketing Board and Milk Marque. During her time with Milk Marque she was in charge of the department dealing with the introduction of the automotive data collection department responsible for recording the number of litres collected and quality results from individual farms.
Paying tribute to her staff and union officials, she said: "I thoroughly enjoy dealing with farmers and all aspects of rural life which I believe are of paramount importance to Wales."
Her hobbies include spending time with her family, history, reading and walking.