Women are often overlooked for their contribution to agriculture, be it in a hands-on role, supporting the family farm or in the allied industries. The Farmers’ Union of Wales were therefore delighted to host a discussion panel highlighting the important and changing role of women in the industry at the Royal Welsh Show.

Joining the panel of speakers were Baroness Eluned Morgan, Brecon deer farmer Kath Shaw, Meirionnydd farmer and HCC board member Rachael Davies and FUW Marketing and Membership manager Teleri Fielden who has recently been announced as the next Llyndy Isaf Scholar.

Originally from just outside London, Kath Shaw farms about 80 acres in partnership with her mother. She started in the deer industry at the age of 20 with a year’s work placement with ADAS in Herefordshire.

From there she completed an ANC in Deer Management at Sparsholt College, Hampshire, worked for various people eventually ending up as Deer Stockperson for JCB in Staffordshire, in charge of a herd of 500 breeding hinds.

During a quiet moment she decided she wanted to work for herself and, after much searching, purchased their farm in Radnorshire.
Currently they have about 65 acres fenced for deer and has a breeding herd of 43 hinds, 45 yearlings for slaughter and another 40 calves born this year.

They have also erected 2 purpose-built sheds for over wintering. Future plans include reducing the age profile of the breeding herd, improving the quality of the grass and building a new handling shed.

They sell all their stock live to the Welsh Venison Centre, which are then slaughtered locally and sold through their farm shop and meat round.

Reflecting on her experience as a women in farming Kath said: “Being a woman in agriculture has advantages and disadvantages. I have experienced low-level sexism in the industry throughout my working life, but have always deflected it with humour and if that hasn’t worked, by confronting the individual concerned.

“On the plus side, being a woman in a male dominated field has made me  more memorable. In the last 10 years farming has changed to become less focussed on brawn as people are more aware of the importance of sensible working practices. This has benefitted everyone as machinery becomes more sophisticated and equipment is developed to help with the heavier jobs. There is always a solution to a problem that doesn’t involve lifting heavy weights by hand!”

Kath also believes that the future of agriculture depends on people working as a team, be they male or female. She added: “Women have always worked in the background on farms. It is often the women who feed and check the stock while their husband goes off to do a day’s work somewhere else and I see no reason why they shouldn’t take a more prominent position on the farm. True, it is not very glamourous and you are unlikely to find a female farmer with a perfect French manicure or the latest designer clothes but the job satisfaction is huge and it’s so much better than sitting in an office, staring at the same 4 walls every day.”

Despite having not grown up on a farm, Teleri Fielden has always sought out opportunities to gain farming experience. From an early age she helped out on her grandparent’s farm and more recently worked and studied on a mixed research farm in the French Rhone Alps, which included mountain shepherding at 1000 meters.

She was also short-listed and interviewed for the National Trust’s Parc Farm on the Great Orme. Teleri has varied experience within the industry, from each step of the ‘food chain’ and most recently has been working as Marketing and Membership Manager for FUW and has been awarded the Llyndy Isaf Scholarship.

“I think the fact that there are more women applying for agricultural courses now shows that the industry is less male dominated than the stereotype shows and we are increasingly represented in the industry, although there is definitely room for improvement.

“It’s more about confidence and practise really for me when it comes to the practical side of farming - and not assuming that you can’t lift this or that and need help with something. Of course being 5 foot like me does have physical limitations, which can be frustrating, but I’d like to think that my other skills and knowledge make up for that.

“I was fortunate in having some great female role models around me over the years, who inspired confidence and a ‘I can do this’ attitude.”

Rachael Davies is a self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades as a politics graduate who was called to the bar specialising in employment law and commercial disputes but has been working in the food and farming sector for the past 8 years.

Rachael has held commercial roles both with an international retailer and in the independent sector, with particular focus on food marketing.

She farms beef and sheep in Meirionnydd with her husband Geraint and is involved with agriculture from grassroots to strategic board level.

“Women’s role within the agricultural industry has definitely changed in the past ten years with women being more openly and publicly involved however, there is still some distance to go. Women have been grafters and decision-makers on family farms for centuries yet in the twenty-first century we are still in the position of having to ‘prove’ ourselves or occasionally becoming pseudo-masculine to do so,” said Rachael Davies.

She adds that one of the most frustrating questions to be asked as a mother of two daughters is “wouldn’t it be nice to have a boy, for the farm!?” But she is determined to get involved, lead by example and highlight that women are just as capable as men within the agricultural industry, both physically and intellectually.

“I urge women to get involved, make things more integrated, let’s encourage, engage – women have the skills that modern farming needs; we are natural multi-taskers, good communicators and used to hard work. More women need to be involved steering the direction of the industry; feeding into stakeholder groups who are still dominated by men, usually of a certain age and demographic,” she said.

Opening the seminar was Eluned Morgan AM said: “Post-Brexit co-operation rather than competition within the agricultural community will be essential and this may come more natural to women.

“Post-Brexit we need women entrepreneurs to lead, to think big and to think bold. My message today is for women not to let politicians make all the decisions, but to play a leadership role on your farms and your communities. That’s the only way we will see positive outcomes for the challenges ahead.”

Chairing the discussions was Mariclare Carey-Jones, freelance journalist for BBC Radio 4 ‘Farming Today’. Summarising the event, she said: “Today’s discussion was an impressive demonstration of the strength and depth of skill and character amongst women in agriculture. While it was shocking to hear some of the examples of sexism that still exist in the industry, attitudes towards women in farming are undoubtedly improving. I feel positive that there’s a real determination to ensure women continue to thrive and I’m excited about the future.”

The FUW opened it’s door widely to welcome young farmers to its pavilion on the second day of the Royal Welsh Show to celebrate their future and involvement with the industry.

Succession and attracting more young people to the industry is a topic the FUW always felt passionate about and FUW Younger Voice for farming Chairman Darren Williams was enthusiastic about the feedback from the under-40s.

He said: “It was absolutely brilliant to have the younger voices of our industry join us for our networking event and listening to them about their hopes, fears, concerns and ambitions for the future. We need the next generation of farmers to be involved and let us know exactly what they want from their future industry. I thank them for joining us tonight and look forward to working with many of them shaping the future of agriculture.”

Teleri Fielden, who recently got awarded the Llyndy Isaf Scholarship joined the networking event saying: “It’s obvious from today that there are so many keen talented young people wanting to get into the industry. It’s going to be a real lost opportunity if we don’t reduce the barriers holding many of them back. Challenges like Brexit, will require the industry to think outside the box and be innovative. That’s why we must make sure that there are dynamic youngsters to continue farming the land in years to come.

“My parents don’t have a farm, so it was really challenging to try and find a way in. It would be good to see more scholarship schemes, like YFC and national Trust offer, which provide a great inroad to farming for those who may not be able to take over a family farm or who just want to run a farm in their own right.”

Rural prosperity was the key focus for FUW leaders during meetings with Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones and UK Government Secretaries of State Michael Gove and Alun Cairns at the Royal Welsh Show.

“No event better demonstrates agriculture’s role in supporting our economy than the Royal Welsh Show, where thousands of businesses which are part of the agricultural supply chain are on display.

“For every businesses at the Royal Welsh Show this week, there are hundreds more which are also reliant on agriculture,” said FUW President Glyn Roberts.

Mr Roberts said that these key messages were acknowledged by First Minister Carwyn Jones, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove and Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns and that the Union was encouraged by discussions had in bilateral meetings with the UK and Welsh government ministers.

In addition the FUW President reinforced the point that Welsh farmers were already delivering a range of environmental benefits, and that further recognition of this would be welcome, given Mr Gove’s recent indication that future farm support should focus on the delivery of environmental outcomes.

“We need to be realistic in terms of what is allowed under WTO rules and the dangers of implementing well-meaning aspirational policies which have not been properly investigated.

“We spent around six years investigating in detail ways to implement changes to the current payment regime which minimised financial disruption and economic turmoil.

“Similar care needs to be taken in terms of proposals which could be far more devastating, and we cannot be sure what an appropriate agricultural policy will look like until we know the details of the agreements currently being hammered out with the EU and others, and the detailed modelling we have called for has been carried out,” said Glyn Roberts.

Mr Roberts added that while the important work of looking to the future continued within the FUW, a further key message stressed during meetings with ministers and politicians had been the need to secure a realistic Brexit transition period.

“We need to ensure that on day one of Brexit, and during the lengthy period it is likely to take to reach agreements with the EU, things do not look particularly different for our farmers.

“ We have already called for a cross government agri summit to take place as soon as possible to address these issues and to ensure that we still have the same broad framework in terms of farm payments, devolved powers, and tariff and barrier-free access to the continental market, when we leave the European Union.”

As all eyes turned to the showground in Llanelwedd on Monday, July 24, the Farmers’ Union of Wales started the show week with a practical approach seminar on preventing rural crime.

 

Outlining the problem and offering practical solutions to rural crime were Dyfed-Powys Police Temporary Inspector and Rural Crime lead PC Matthew Howells, North Wales Police Rural Crime Team Manager Rob Taylor, Barclays Agriculture Relationship Director Kathryn Whitrow, Plant-I Risk Manager Nicholas Harvey and Leon Oliver Window from Select Rural Security Specialists.

 

“Every year rural crime costs millions of pounds and causes untold anxiety to farmers and rural businesses. The seminar offered a great insight into how farmers and those living in rural areas can help themselves,” said FUW Deputy President Brian Thomas.

 

Chairing the seminar, Head of news and business at the Farmers Guardian, Olivia Midgley, said: “The scourge of rural crime, whether it be livestock or machinery thefts, dog attacks on livestock, hare coursing or fly tipping, is something that, sadly, farmers and landowners are only too familiar with.

 

“Today's debate has been constructive in discussing ways the industry can tackle the problem head on and in North Wales particularly, it is reassuring to see such effective policing being undertaken to address the growing problem of livestock worrying.

 

“Farmers Guardian, with support from across the industry, has been working with farmers, dog owners, police forces and the general public to raise awareness of the issue and we hope that with our Take the Lead initiative now moving into schools, together we can drive down the number of attacks.”

 

Temporary Inspector with Dyfed Powys Police and rural crime lead, Matthew Howells highlighted that last year 500 rural crimes were reported in the Dyfed-Powys Police area. These included 27 quad bike thefts, 63 reports of stolen sheep which account for 1800 sheep, 40 gates, 50 reports of stolen power tools, 7 reports of stolen cattle totalling 40 cattle and an increasing number of batteries such as tractor batteries. But that might not be the final figure according to Matthew Howells.

 

He explains: “Rural crime is still too underreported. If we think that there is only about 1.5 crimes reported per day, it highlights that more farmers need to speak up about the crime they encounter, so that we can more effectively help them and target rural criminality.”

 

Addressing the issue of livestock worrying, Rob Taylor, North Wales Police Rural Crime Team Manager, highlighted that in North Wales in nearly 4 years there have been approximately 500 separate livestock attacks with the loss of nearly 2,000 sheep.

In terms of thefts from farms Rob Taylor outlineed some practical solutions saying: "We find that the majority of thefts from farms are opportunistic, in that the thieves see what is available and easy to take.

 

“We advise farmers to take basic precautions such as removing keys from machinery and quad bikes and ensuring tools are locked away when not used.  Also padlocking gates can be a good deterrent as well as CCTV. It is vital to us that if a farmer gets a suspicious visit, that if it is safe to do so then the vehicle registration number is recorded and possibly a description of the occupants.

 

“Further guidance advice can be obtained by visiting the North Wales Police website and searching 'Rural crime' or following the team @NWPRuralcrime”

 

Cyber crime was also hotly debated, with Barclays Agriculture Relationship Director Kath Whitrow highlighting that those living in rural areas are more aware of cybercrime.

 

Kath Whitrow said that their recent research has shown that city dwellers are more at risk of cybercrime than those living in the country, with 20% of rural residents claiming to have experienced an online scam or fraud in the past three years, compared with a UK average of 25%.

 

“Behaviour also plays a key role. Rural dwellers in general show more awareness and caution in how they behave online, scoring more highly in our Digital Safety Index, averaging a 6.49 score compared with city average score of 6.02,” said Kath Whitrow.

Barclays has invested £10m in a national advertising campaign to raise awareness of the increasing risk of online fraud and scams, and how citizens across the UK can protect themselves in this digital age.

 

“While it’s clear that we see many benefits of the digital revolution, the shift in customer behaviour brings unique risks too. Knowing this, our ambition is to help our customers and the broader UK public understand how they can protect themselves from the increasingly common and complex world of online fraud and scams.”

 

Looking at further practical solutions to preventing rural crime, Plant-I’s Risk Data Manager Nicholas Harvey said: “Plant i were thrilled to be part of the discussion panel looking at what can be done to tackle rural crime. Statistics show that of all farm machinery stolen, such as Quadbikes and tractors, only 5% are recovered.

 

“It was therefore good to hear a multi-platform approach being discussed, as well as the need for implementing preventative measure to discourage theft. Tracking devices for recover measures will provide police forces with greater intelligence to catch criminals and will also have a positive effect on reducing rural crime figures. In addition this may well also improve the claims costs for an individual’s insurance therefore improving the premium you will be expected to pay.

 

“I would echo the sentiment that insurers also need to be more proactive in their approach to providing risk management services and products to the farming community. Telematics and tracking is an industry standard in commercial fleets, so why is it not widely incentivised for tracking devices on farmers assets?”

 

Speaking after the seminar, Leon Oliver Window, owner of Select Rural Security Specialists,  said: “I was delighted to have been asked to join the expert panel of speakers at the FUW pavilion at this year’s Royal Welsh Show.

 

“The choice of topic for the discussion, ‘Rural Crime - a proactive approach’, is something that I am passionate about, and I was glad to be able to offer some of Select’s expertise on rural security to those in attendance.

"I hope that those who did attend learnt something from the discussion, even if it is a few simple tips and tricks to help secure their rural property. For anyone wishing to learn more, simply contact the team at Select Security."