News that the Riverlea depot in Crymych will be closing due to difficulties in the rural economy, has been described as sad news but a sign of the times by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

The agricultural machinery company has been based in the North Pembrokeshire village for over 50 years and employs up to 20 people there.

The business was established during the early 1960's and in a video published on the company's website, owner David Hill explains that workers will be offered posts at the company's other branch in Whitland - around 17 miles away.

Commenting on the news, FUW Managing Director Alan Davies, said: “This is a huge loss for the rural economy in North Pembrokeshire. Unfortunately it is a sign of the times and reinforces just how dependant these second and third sector businesses are on farming.

“20 jobs in Crymych are as important as hundreds in other parts of Wales. It's time for the WG to recognise that rural Wales needs support. We know that the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure Ken Skates is consulting on business support, and we will be responding accordingly, highlighting the need for more rural focus and less interest on attracting foreign investment.”

The initial lineup of speakers has been revealed for the Farmers’ Union of Wales upcoming All Wales Farm Conference themed ‘Opportunities for Growth post-Brexit’.

The conference will be held on October 6, at the RWAS Members Centre on the Royal Welsh Showground, Builth Wells, commencing at 9.30am.

FUW Managing Director Alan Davies said: “This conference is not just about farming - it is about the wider recognition of how Farming Matters, where supply chains are involved, how money circulates in the local economy, where people survive, where profits are made, communities are sustained and our culture continues to thrive. For the first time in over 40 years we have an opportunity to create a long-term plan that favours Wales. If we focus on that – it will happen.

“We need to decide what we want Wales to be and what we want to achieve. It is in our hands to shape a future for our children and grandchildren that is sustainable and profitable and we must recognise the excellent opportunity for us to shape a post-Brexit world that suits Welsh agriculture and Britain. This conference, without a doubt, provides a platform to hear from a wide range of speakers and it will be informative to all who believe that Farming Matters in shaping our rural economy and establishing Wales as the rural powerhouse it has the potential to be.”

Chairing the conference will be ITV Wales Journalist Catrin Haf Jones.

Speakers on the day will include AHDB Chief Strategy Officer Tom Hind, Head of Economics and Social Policy & Director of Research at the think tank ‘Policy Exchange’ and former member of the 'Vote Leave' Economists group Professor Warwick Lightfoot, Welsh Government Future Generations and Well Being Commissioner Sophie Howe, Deputy Chief Executive RWAS & Nuffield Scholar Aled Jones, HCC- Meat Promotion Wales Export Market Development Executive Deanna Leven and Steve Keyworth Founder and Director of Environment Systems, an environmental and agricultural consultancy.

Additional speakers will be announced soon.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “Preparations for our All Wales Farm Conference are in full swing and we are excited to explore the many aspects and opportunities for growth in a post-Brexit world.

“We have a superb lineup of speakers, who are experts in their field and who will certainly offer great perspectives and insight into what is to come in the future once we leave the European Union in regards to our economy, trade, technology and our social communities.

“I would encourage everyone who has an interest in #FarmingMatters to book their space for the conference as soon as possible via our website fuw.org.uk or by calling our head office on 01970 820280, as places are allocated on a first come first served basis.”

[caption id="attachment_6889" align="alignleft" width="300"] Visitors at the demonstration afternoon receiving an update on grassland management from John Yeomans and Grassland Consultant Chris Duller[/caption]

How do you make your farm business more efficient, what role can grass play in this and just how do you produce more forage and better quality forage and convert that into meat? These were some of the questions posed by Farmers’ Union of Wales Montgomeryshire members, John and Sarah Yeomans and their family.

Facing around a 57 percent drop in farming subsidies the family are keen to find ways in which to make the family business run more efficiently and in a bid to answer some questions, the Yeomans family opened the gates to their farm, Llwyn y Brain, Adfa near Newtown, to share their farming experience with fellow farmers on what has worked for them and also what has been less successful, over the past three years.

Speakers at the event included Grassland Consultant Chris Duller, Oli Hodgkinson of Trefaldwyn Vets, Nick Rider of OPICO, Justin Rees of Kiwikit, Brent Gibbon of DowAgroSciences, Ben Wixey of Germinal (British Seed Houses), Richard Gower of FarmWizard, James Cheadle of Elanco and Ieuan Davies from Agrimin.

The demonstration afternoon, which was well attended by industry representatives and farmers alike, provided an excellent opportunity to see just how the Yeomans family are trialing different farming methods for example incorporating new crops, such as red clover and Redstart, into their rotational grazing systems and what measures they take to maximise livestock health, to make the business more profitable.

Much focus was placed on the benefits of rotational grazing, pasture rejuvenation, making the best use of forage, cattle and sheep health, parasite control, coccidiosis and trace elements, and using EID to reduce worming costs.

[caption id="attachment_6890" align="alignright" width="300"] Sheep grazing on a section of pasture, sectioned off as part of the rotational grazing system[/caption]

Grassland Consultant Chris Duller, who has been working with the family for nearly 20 years, has calculated that the 115 hectare business needs 906 tonnes of dry matter to feed all of the livestock on the farm per year. They produce 6.6 tonnes of dry matter per hectare per year and current feed costs run at 51 pence per 1 kg liveweight. Their current fertiliser costs run at 18 pence per kilo liveweight produced.

Speaking to visitors at the demonstration event Chris Duller said: “We have been experimenting a bit and are for example sward lifting and harrowing rather than ploughing the fields here at Llwyn y Brain and focusing on re-seeding and soil improvement. We have increased the use of clover and forage crops, and are trying to make better use of the land up on the hill. All of this has been coupled with more targeted use of fertiliser, and trying to improve management of the soil to help its structure and of course trialling the rotational grazing system.

“The first year of rotational grazing went well, last year was probably the best, but this year the late spring and prolonged periods of wet weather have played havoc with grass growth so not all has gone to plan. First you have no grass and then you all of a sudden have too much. However, in order to improve you have to try new things.

“What we must remember is not to grow more grass than we can utilise, or it becomes too costly. A farm needs to know its feed demand and then the grass has to be managed properly for it to be a cheap food source for livestock. It is worth remembering that most farms waste 50% of the grass grown.”

[caption id="attachment_6891" align="alignleft" width="300"] “A farm needs to know its feed demand and then the grass has to be managed properly for it to be a cheap food source for livestock” - Grassland Consultant Chris Duller[/caption]

Justin Rees from KiwiKit, who has been advising the family on their solar electric fences to make the rotational grazing work better for them, said: “John needs to try to measure the grass every week with a plate meter across the whole farm to gauge how much grass will grow to estimate how much dry matter will be available compared to the demand. Doing that would allows us to better manage decisions for grazing. What we are also seeing here with the rotational grazing system is which paddocks are more efficient than others -  the fields that are doing well are much greener and will naturally produce better forage for the livestock. If you can see a patchwork of grass in all different shades of green then rotational grazing is working for you.”

This year the Yeomans family have started to use a red clover crop to try and finish lambs which have grown frame but not finished on the rotational grazing.  In addition they have added Redstart, a rape/Kale hybrid, and more plantain, red and white clover on the hill, which has been done in conjunction with their grassland consultant Chris Duller and Germinal, and the rotational grazing system has been set up with KiwiKit solar electric fencers.

John Yeomans said: “As a family we try to find more efficient ways in which to run our business - sometimes we get it right and at other times we don’t. It’s a constant learning curve for us. We like to trial new technologies to help us improve as much as we can and therefore we are now using EID equipment to make decisions about when to worm our lambs."

During the afternoon FarmWizard demonstrated one of the aspects of their phone app that has been used to help target wormer use.  When lambs are weighed the app speaks the lambs' daily live weight gain and any lambs gaining over 200g per day have not been wormed.

[caption id="attachment_6892" align="alignright" width="300"] armWizard demonstrated one of the aspects of their phone app that has been used to help target wormer use.[/caption]

Looking at animal health on the farm, James Cheadle from Elanco explained that Coccidiosis is caused by infection by protozoan parasites called Eimeria spp. which parasitize the lining of the intestinal tract, with E. zuernii, E. bovis and E. alabamensis being the most common and pathogenic.

Infection causes a loss of absorptive capacity of the gut with consequent diarrhoea and possibly dysentery. Outbreaks of disease are commonly seen 3-4 weeks after mixing groups of calves.

Explaining what they have been doing to deal with the problem, John says: “In the past we had lost a small number of calves over several years so of course we had to do something about it. We are now testing every 2 or 3 weeks by looking at fecal samples with Trefaldwyn vets and now only treat when the problem appears, which helps build strong immunity in the calves in order to allow them to build up natural resistance.”

[caption id="attachment_6893" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sarah and John Yeomans working with the FarmWizard phone App at the demonstration afternoon[/caption]

“As a business we strive to be as economical and efficient as possible to maximise our output and increase profit. We go through trial and error to find out what works for us and can only encourage others to try new tactics in order to try to become more profitable.

“We hope that everyone enjoyed the visit and was able to take information away with them that is helpful to their own holdings. I would like to also thank our grassland consultant Chris Duller, Iwan Owen from IBERS, Trefaldwyn vets, Elanco, Zoetis, OPICO, DowAgroSciences, Germinal (British Seed Houses), Agrimin, Sainsbury’s, Dunbia, Foxley Farm Supplies, Patchwork and KiwiKit for their continued support and guidance,” added John Yeomans.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has called for a cross party debate at the Welsh Assembly for elected members to discuss the urgent need for a change to the current Bovine TB eradication programme.

The Union recognises that unless urgent, proactive action is taken to manage the source of infection in both cattle and wildlife, post Brexit trade negotiations could be put at significant risk. This debate is therefore an opportunity for cross-party co-operation on an issue which has significant emotional and financial implications for many farmers in Wales.

FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “The eradication of Bovine TB is uppermost in our concerns for a successful EU exit and subsequent trade deals. Our belief is that current levels of Bovine TB in Wales are in excess of what will be acceptable to other EU countries when we are outside the single market and our current status has the potential to be a challenging negotiation tool, especially given the the vacuum created by post vaccination failure.

“We can’t help but notice the difference in approach and understanding when we compare our own policies to those implemented in England and while we note that the Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, plans to make a statement in the autumn, the Union stresses the point that she needs to recognise that the game has changed due to the trade negotiations issue and that previous plans to eradicate the disease are not fit for the future.

“Stringent cattle controls and additional biosecurity cannot, in isolation, fully eradicate Bovine TB and there must be a change of policy to more thoroughly address the wildlife source of infection.”

Alongside stressing the importance of maintaining good post Brexit trade relations, the FUW’s call for cross party action, possibly through an Individual Members debate, also asks Assembly Members to recognise that a Bovine TB breakdown can cause many indirect losses to farm businesses, such as the loss of breeding lines, and the Union therefore also calls for current cattle compensation levels to be protected.

Given the current and future importance of Bovine TB to Welsh agriculture, the FUW would like to encourage Assembly Members to support this call for an Individual Members debate at the Welsh Assembly in order to deliver a change of TB management policy, which will ensure that Welsh agricultural trade is protected post-Brexit.