A new year usually means a New Year’s resolution for many. So why not make having breakfast a good habit starting from this month? To help you with the new resolution there are farmhouse breakfast being held in Denbighshire and Flintshire, which you can join.

The Denbigh and Flint branches of the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) are hosting three breakfast in January as part of the FUW’s farmhouse breakfast week, which are held on:

• Friday, January 27, at Neuadd y Pentre, Groes, near Denbigh;
• Saturday, January 28, at Gwytherin Village Hall,
• Friday, January 27, Cilcain Village Hall, Flintshire.

“Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day, providing the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast. Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the tractor or car without fuel, it’s not going to give you the best start to the day.

“And if like some of us, you have overindulged a little bit over the festive period, then you will be pleased to hear that research has shown that those who eat breakfast regularly are less likely to be overweight. It might even help you to lose a few extra pounds, because if you have breakfast you are less likely to reach for high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning,” said Gwennan Williams, the FUW’s Denbigh and Flint County Executive Officer’s Assistant.

This breakfast campaign also provides an opportunity to promote the quality premium local produce that farmers grow for us every day of the year and throughout breakfast week the FUW will shine a spotlight on the importance of our rural economy.

“Politicians, key stakeholders and the general public need to really understand the important role the food and drink sector plays in their everyday lives, so to do just that we will be enjoying some great local produce to kick-start our day as part of our breakfast week campaign.

“But we want you to be a part of what we do, and share your thoughts and worries about the state of the industry, tell us your stories and help us to understand how we can help each other,” added Gwennan Williams.

[caption id="attachment_7475" align="alignleft" width="297"] Darren Williams[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has welcomed Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths’ announcement of a £40 million investment scheme which will allow farm businesses to improve performance in key areas.

The scheme will provide 40% support for farm business investments of up to £12,000 over a four-year period for around eighty items linked to:

• animal health,
• genetics and performance,
• crop management,
• energy and resource efficiency
• Information and Communications technology.

Welcoming the announcement, FUW Younger Voice Committee Chairman Darren Williams said:

“Over the past three years farmers have paid around £120 million into the Rural Development Programme through pillar transfers, so the opportunity to access funding to improve their businesses in this way will be welcome.

“The FUW has lobbied hard to secure such a scheme for years, and more recently has worked with Hybu Cig Cymru, AHDB Dairy and the Welsh Government to draw up a list of possible items which would improve farm performance.”

Mr Williams said that while there would no doubt be items, desired by some businesses, which will not have made it onto the list due to the strict selection criteria, the comprehensive list of those which had, would bring major benefits to farms.

Announcing the scheme, Lesley Griffiths said the key objectives would be reducing carbon emissions and to improve resilience and competitiveness.

“We are continually striving to make our farms more efficient and effective, while also lowering our impact on the environment, but with many farm incomes well below the £20,000 mark, finding the money to invest in what’s needed can be impossible.

“This scheme should therefore provide welcome help on that front, while seeing investment on farms which have paid into the RDP for years but not received anything. I do however hope that every farmer will be able to access the scheme and not just a select target few,” said Mr Williams.

Mr Williams added he looked forward to seeing more of the scheme’s details, and hoped the application and implementation rules would not be too burdensome.

[caption id="attachment_7470" align="alignleft" width="169"] Caryl Hughes[/caption]

Just before Christmas we caught up with young farmer Caryl Hughes to find out what she has planned in January and it sounds like things are going to be quite exciting! Have a read here about what she's up to:

Caryl, 26, and her family- parents - Rheinallt (who is the FUW's county chairman in Denbighshire) and Liz and brother Iwan,22, currently farm 660 acres at Tu Hwnt i’r Afon, Llanarmon DC, Croesowallt. In the new year this will increase to 980 acres, as Caryl has secured a new tenancy agreement. The family will be lambing around 1800 ewes next lambing season and carry 350 replacements every year.

The majority of the flock is pure Welsh Mountain but they also have a flock of 250 Mule ewes, which are kept on the lower land and lamb early to hit the early markets.

In partnership with her family, Caryl also runs around 30 suckler cows and followers. They usually buy in around 15-20 weaner calves that are reared to stores and sold.

Caryl has a degree in Agriculture and Animal Science from Aberystwyth University. During her time at University she travelled to New Zealand where she worked for 12 months, milking cows and working on a beef and sheep station.

She has also travelled to Norway to work with a shearing gang, studied shepherding in the French Alps and was the first Llyndy Isaf Scholar to farm in Snowdonia.

Caryl is currently the county vice chairman of Montgomeryshire YFC.

On the farm:

On the farm we have taken lambs to our local market of Oswestry. We decided to try some smaller lambs, as we already sold most of the cross bred lambs and the ones we have left need to get a bit heavier before they can go.

I took 30 Welsh Mountain ram lambs to market, which weighed 30.5kgs. The price for smaller lambs hasn’t been very exciting over the last few weeks but I managed to £46 each for them which works out at around £1.50 per kilo. A good price on the day and I left the market confident that I had done so.

With the new tenancy starting early in the new year we have been buying in old ewes from Oswestry, Ruthin and Dolgellau markets to start a flock for the new land. I've turned Blue Face Leicester rams to them all and hope to be selling mule ewe lambs in the breeding markets next Autumn.

I then took the Welsh ewes with their rams back up to the mountain for a few weeks to let the bottom land have a bit of a rest and I took a Texel and a Charolais ram down to the older ewes so they could do some sweeping. Hopefully I won’t find too many of them taking these rams now as we could have a long lambing season on our hands if they do.

New Beginning:

At the start of the week, some would say I signed my life away… but I see it as a fantastic opportunity. I have recently decided that I wanted to take the plunge and go self employed and start farming at home on our family farm.

After signing on the dotted line to join the family partnership with my parents and grandmother, it was time to sign on another dotted line for a three year 320 acre tenancy.

Social:

My Gran has always told me, ‘You shouldn’t burn the candle at both ends’ but that’s easier said than done when you’re a YFC club chairman and a county vice chairman.

Amongst many other YFC events I went to Gregynog Hall in Tregynon for the county YFCs English public speaking competition. After looking up a few jokes on Google and putting a few notes down we headed into the after dinner speaking competition.

We came a very respectable 2nd as a Senior team and won the English competition overall as a club.

Friday night was the Welsh Public Speaking competition at the same venue, as organised as ever I managed to get an hour off to sit and write my debating speech to oppose the motion that Britain should do more to help asylum seekers.

Apparently I’m not too bad at debating and came home with the trophy for the best senior speaker and the overall senior team trophy.

Challenges:

In my opinion land prices and getting on the ladder is the hardest thing facing us young people in the industry. The competition for land in most areas is fierce with many young people being out priced by larger expanding farms. I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a family farm where my brother and I will be the 5th generation.

Future:

I look forward to taking my place in running the family farm with my parents. I’m hoping to concentrate on the sheep enterprise mainly, producing not only a profitable quantity of lambs but also quality throughout the season.

I’m looking to refine the flock and really concentrating on a gross margin per ewe instead of the flock as a whole.

I wasn’t a fan of leaving the EU, but the decision has been made and we need to look at it with a positive attitude for the industry. This is our time as young people to really put our stamp on our futures and make a change.

Farmers in Carmarthenshire will have an opportunity to voice their concerns and get an update on the industry, with two Farmers’ Union of Wales branch meetings being held in January.

South Carmarthenshire farmers will be interested in the meeting arranged for Monday, January 16 at 7.30pm, which is held at Clwb Top, Upper Tumble.

A further meeting for those in the north of the County is being held at the Forest Arms, Brechfa, on Thursday, January 26, which also starts at 7.30pm.

Members will have the opportunity to discuss general veterinary issues with a local vet and further debate #Farming Matters.

Farmers’ Union of Wales County Executive Officer David Waters said:

“This is an excellent opportunity for our members to get an update on the industry and what the FUW is doing and it also provides a great platform to share some thoughts and ideas. I encourage our members to join us for the evening and look forward to see many of you there.”

Meetings for east and west Carmarthen will be held in February.

More information is available from the office - 01267 237974.