[caption id="attachment_5966" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Swansea Community Farm Director Phil Budd showing FUW president Glyn Roberts around the farm and garden.[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts visited the Swansea Community Farm (SCF) to see the multi-award winning project for himself and drum up support for the Fforestfach site.

Established in 1992, when a group of committed individuals got together with the idea of setting up a city farm in Swansea, the farm is now a major community and educational resource working with over 1,800 programme participants.

Born out of the belief, that the establishment of a small working farm in the city would bring immense pleasure, opportunity and benefit to all sections of the community, the farm is now visited by 10-15,000 members of the public each year.

Despite their success and doubling their income over the last two years to over £60,000, which is 20-25 percent of their total income, the farm now finds itself in financial difficulty  due to cuts in funding and launched an urgent funding appeal to ensure that they can continue operating as the only city farm in Wales.

For this they need to raise £20,000 before Christmas and £50,000 by the end of March to ensure operations keep on running.

As a working farm they have always aimed to reconnect people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities with their food, their environment and each other and do this through a range of unique and exciting educational, volunteering, training and play projects.

FUW president Glyn Roberts, who has previously visited a 90-acre Woodlands Farm, on the borders of Greenwich and Bexley, and which is the largest city farm in Europe, is well aware of the benefits of having a city farm accessible to the local community.

“Farming and the countryside is embedded in our Welsh heritage and it is a pleasure to see how the SCF are engaging with the public by offering cookery training in the volunteer built café, through school and college visits and courses and through selling sausages, bacon and meat from pigs reared on the farm.

“It would be a massive step backwards in efforts made to connect urban and rural life if this community farm is forced to close.

“I strongly urge those in power and the people of Swansea to do all they can to support this project so that our children and children’s children can continue to learn about the ways of the countryside, food production and sustainable land management.”

Despite having put considerable cost-cutting measure in place, it will cost £200,000 to £250,000 to run the 3.5 acres farm next year. 

“It’s getting harder and harder to raise funds and over the last year the farm has had to use its reserves, which are now critically low, to continue operating as a free community facility,” said Swansea Community Farm Director Phil Budd.

“It’s been three weeks since we announced our latest appeal and we are almost halfway to reaching our £20,000 target.  We have had an amazing response from the public but we do need people to keep donating to help us ‘Save our Farm’,” he added.

The farm promotes sustainable development in an environmentally friendly way that supports and respects wildlife and provides its animals with the highest standards of humane care.

It further provides stimulating opportunities for participants to develop skills as they in turn contribute meaningfully to the development of the farm community.

Those wanting to make a donation can do so via https://mydonate.bt.com/donation/donate.html?charity=swanseacommunityfarm or text SCFF12 and the amount you wish to donate (eg SCFF12 £5) to 7007.

Today the Farmers’ Union of Wales is celebrating its 60^th anniversary and we are hosting an informal visit to explore the different views of those who have been actively involved in the set-up of the FUW 60 years ago and those who have just joined the organisation.

For this we are excited to visit Roy and Nerys Edwards and their four sons at Groesasgwrn, Llangynderyn, Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire.

Roy was the winner of Fferm Factor for the year 2014 and joined the FUW in May 2015 – making him the newest and one of the ‘youngest’ FUW members in the founder county. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZip3Bb2I4c

Nerys’ time is split between being actively involved in the running of the home farm and helping her husband and keeping a successful occasion cake business ‘Cacennau Moethus’. http://tinyurl.com/qfuayv8

Joining us for the visit are Mr T Llew Jones MBE, a founder member of the union in 1955.

Farming has changed dramatically over the last 60 years and we look forward hearing about the challenges the farming community faced in 1955 and how these compare to the struggles but also opportunities the current generation of farmers have to deal with.

Following the farm visit we will travel to the Halliwell Centre, Trinity St David, Carmarthen – the venue for the 60^th anniversary dinner – and look forward to welcoming Lord Morris of Aberavon, who was actively involved with the formation of the FUW as the union's legal adviser and deputy general secretary between 1956 and 1958, as the guest speaker.

[caption id="attachment_5963" align="aligncenter" width="213"] FUW president Glyn Roberts (r) and FUW deputy president Brian Thomas congratulate the winning Fferm Ffactor team at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales Insurance Service is proud to be sponsoring a year’s free insurance for the brand new 2015 Isuzu pick-up worth over £20,000 – which was won by the former contestants’ team.

A shocking twist to the programme saw a team made of former contestants come back to challenge the other teams. 

The team, who harnessed their experience in a sustained assault on this year's title, was made up of Bala farmer Rhodri Jones who teamed up with Tywyn farm manager Rhys Williams and Llandysul producer Heilin Thomas to create the arduous team, which included two former semi-finalists.

FUW Insurance Services managing director Mark Roberts said: “We’re pleased to be associated with Fferm Ffactor and the teams’ fantastic achievement and sponsoring the insurance on the new Isuzu is part of our determination to support young farmers across Wales.

“Sponsoring the insurance on the new vehicle also gives us the chance to show that we can offer competitive insurance rates for all rural-based businesses.

“FUW Insurance is supported by our field force of Account Executives and the management team, who work closely with farmers to make sure they have the cover needed to protect their businesses.

“Our staff understand the needs of the rural community and will be there when needed to give all our rural business customers a professional, locally-based service.”

This year’s competition saw a change to the format of the programme as teams, rather than individuals, competed for the 2015 Fferm Ffactor title.

Rhodri Jones, 37, who runs a beef and sheep farm in Llanuwchllyn, took part in the first series back in 2009.

Rhys Williams, who manages a 700-acre beef and sheep farm at Tywyn, was a semi-finalist in the 2013 series.

"The farming industry plays a major part in the economy of Wales and the show is a great showcase for it," said the 36-year-old.

"The challenges showed quite accurately the sort of jobs we have to do, so it was good to be involved again."

"It's been great to be involved in the show again," said Heilin, 28, who works on a family sheep, beef and dairy farm in Ceredigion.

Three new judges have joined Fferm Ffactor: Brwydr y Ffermwyr this year, and one of them being the FUW’s marketing and membership manager Caryl Gruffydd Roberts, who was bought up on a farm in the Conwy Valley.

Caryl Roberts, who was the first female judge on the programme, said: “This series of Fferm Ffactor is one to remember for many reasons. A new concept coupled with three brand new judges has made for an exciting programme and an excellent showcase for the industry.”

[caption id="attachment_5944" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW president Glyn Roberts views the plans for the livestock market refurbishment with local farmers.[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales president Glyn Roberts attended Cowbridge Livestock Market on Tuesday November 24, with members of the Vale Market Community Enterprise Group (VMCE) to display the plans for the livestock market refurbishment and development of the surrounding area to local farmers.

Glyn Roberts took the opportunity to discuss the proposed plans with members of the VMCE, FUW members, local farmers as well as the market auctioneers. The union has long been in support of the mart recognising that the closure of Cowbridge mart would remove a vital lifeline from the town and also make it necessary for farmers to travel far greater distances to sell their stock.

In 2013 the union contributed to a feasibility study in a bid to convince the Vale Council that it was profitable and vital to keep the mart open.

“Refurbishing this livestock market is a very exciting prospect. It’s not just an important vehicle to establish the SQQ (Standard Quality Quotation) of lambs to calculate dead weight price but the integration of local people who want to sustain the old tradition of a livestock market here in Glamorgan is well worth supporting. I am very pleased to see that agricultural industry and the local community want to market their products and work together for the good of the community,” said Glyn Roberts.

VMCE unveiled their proposals in the summer to encourage members of the public to support the renovation plans by purchasing Community Bonds.

All funds raised by the Community Bonds will be used directly towards building the market hall known as ‘The Exchange’ (www.theexchangecowbridge.uk) which will be used for a wide variety of purposes including a café and community shops.

After experiencing overwhelming interest in the Community Bonds both during and after the Vale Show, the VMCE have expressed their delight at the fact that only a limited number of Community Bonds remain available for purchase. Other fund raising opportunities will be announced in due course.

“The proposed scheme will produce many benefits to the market site as a whole, including the addition of much needed car parking facilities within the town centre, which will also provide the historical benefit of exposing the Cowbridge town wall which was built in the 13th century,” said FUW Glamorgan county executive officer Rachel Saunders.

While the VMCE continue to negotiate with the Vale Council about a definite start date for the proposed works, members of the VMCE hope that the work can commence on the site by 2017.

If any member of the public is interested in participating in the Community Bond scheme or wish to be registered on the database to receive updates, please contact Mandy Davies 01656 674001 email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. website www.theexchangecowbridge.uk