Primary school pupils from all over Wales are once again being invited to enter a Christmas card design competition organised by the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

The competition, which was launched by the union at the Cardiff Country Fair on Saturday September 27, is asking children aged from four to 11 to design a Christmas scene depicting a farming theme for its Christmas cards which will be sold to raise money for the FUW’s chosen charities - Cardiff-based T? Hafan and Hope House Children's Hospices of Oswestry which includes T? Gobaith at Conwy.

FUW president Emyr Jones said: “The competition will be split into Welsh language and English language categories. Children can use any media in their entries, such as crayons, coloured pencils, felt tipped pens or paint which must be completed on an A4 sheet of paper.

“The only stipulation is that it must be a Christmas card with a farming theme. The competition was a huge success last year and we hope we can once again count on the support of our primary schools all over Wales.”

The winner of each category will receive a £30 gift voucher for themselves, a packet of the Christmas cards depicting their design, one day’s free admittance to the 2014 Royal Welsh Winter Fair to receive their prizes and a £50 cheque for their school.

The winning entries, together with a selection of other entries, will be displayed at the FUW stand during the Winter Fair (December 1-2).

The closing date for entries is Friday October 24.

The pupil’s name, age, class number, school name and home address must be included on all entries which should be posted or delivered to the FUW, Llys Amaeth, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BT, marked “Schools Competition”, or e-mailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Members of the FUW hill farming and marginal land and livestock, wool and marts committees visited the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, to see the latest developments on genomic and phenomic research there.

Delegates learned how this new state-of-the-art £6.8 million facility helps to further enhance delivery of improved forage and cereal varieties to the industry. The data analysis undertaken at the phenomics centre speeds up the plant breeding process, ensuring that crop varieties meeting the latest requirements of agriculture are available to growers that much sooner.

The genomic meat traceability project was also outlined, showing how DNA analysis helps to pinpoint where meat on supermarket shelves has come from.  Mapping the DNA of different animal breeds not only helps with meat traceability, and therefore consumer confidence, but can also be used to speed up livestock breeding programmes for particular traits that are of value to the farmer and consumer.

“We enjoyed a very informative visit at IBERS and were  impressed with the latest developments in genomic and phenomic research,” said newly-elected FUW hill farming and marginal land committee chairman Ian Rickman.

“Since the horsemeat scandal it has become of greater importance for us to trace our meat back to the source and supermarkets are increasingly aware of the fact that they need to be able to verify the carcasses in their meat supply chain.”

[caption id="attachment_3078" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Dr Matt Hegarty (third from right) and Alan Gay (fifth from left) from IBERS with FUW committee delegates[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales members and friends tackled the Wales Coast Path during a huge sponsored walk to raise funds for children’s hospice charities T? Hafan and T? Gobaith.

The challenging event took place on Saturday and Sunday September 13 and 14 when teams of union members, staff and friends embarked on various walks along the whole length of the Wales Coast Path to boost funds for both charities for FUW president Emyr Jones’ 2014 charity appeal.

Mr Jones said: “The idea of covering every section of the Wales Coast Path was a huge challenge and I must thank the volunteers who helped us cover the miles on foot and offered support to our walkers. I had no doubt that, with the enthusiasm and support of union staff, members and friends, it could be achieved.

“Around 90 teams were involved over the weekend and we managed to raise around £5,000, with money still coming in. The pictures sent in from all the counties are truly wonderful and a selection can be viewed on the FUW Facebook page.”

Members, family and friends of FUW’s Denbighshire and Flintshire branches enjoyed a glorious day whilst undertaking their coastal path section on Saturday September 13.

Over 50 walkers tackled the 60-odd miles between Chester and Conwy in sections up to nine miles and enjoyed some interesting and varied views along the Dee Estuary and North Wales coast.

FUW Denbighshire and Flintshire county executive officer Rhys Roberts said: “Following the day’s walking we held a social evening at Denbigh Rugby Club where members and friends gathered to enjoy a superb hog roast prepared by Denbigh butcher Glyn Davies accompanied by salads and puddings donated by the ladies committees of both counties.

“After the food, guests were royally entertained by comedian Dilwyn Pierce and Cor Meibion Bro Aled, whose members also walked in aid of the charities and raised £1,230 for the cause. 

“The walk and the evening were an outstanding success and I thank all those that participated in the two events for their time and commitment to raising funds for this most worthy of causes, and especially the choir and Dilwyn for the evening’s entertainment.

“In total, once all the sponsorship money has been collected, I hope the day will have raised in the region of £3,000,” added Mr Roberts.

After the walk in Montgomeryshire, FUW county chairman Mark Williams said: “An early rise on Sunday morning September 14 saw the fish jumping at Dyfi Bridge and FUW Montgomeryshire members and staff along with family and friends as they set out across Dyfi Bridge in Machynlleth to walk the Coast Path to Clarach Bay.

“The route covered a distance of over 20 miles and the 10 more experienced walkers of our team undertook the whole route while six started at Tre’r Ddol and completed the 10-mile walk into Clarach.

“I joined the walk at Tre’r Ddol and we had a beautiful day with spectacular views and a challenging terrain. I would like to congratulate Ellen Fowles and Ceris Jones, both eight years old, on completing the 10-mile trip with me.

“I would also like to thank Bryan Jones for his support in providing the recovery service for those who failed to make the final stretch from Borth to Clarach.”

First to complete the challenge in Montgomeryshire was Sue Pope, of Llangurig, with 11 participants completing their routes.

FUW Montgomeryshire county executive officer Susan Jones said: “It was great to have area officer David Lush and his wife Dawn on board for this challenge and area officer Nia Wyn Evans completed the route, stating that it was harder than walking up Cadar Idris.

“I would also like to thank everyone for their sponsorship and support. We were also very grateful to Glan y Môr Leisure Park at Clarach for allowing us to put up our support tent so that refreshments and drinks were available when the walkers came in.”

Farmers’ Union of Wales members have met with the manager of Menai Meats Wales Ltd, which has taken over the former Sher Foods abattoir in Caernarfon.

The well attended meeting between Muhammad Ali of Menai Meats Wales Ltd and the Caernarfon county executive committee took place on Monday September 8.

Speaking after the meeting, FUW Caernarfonshire chairman Dafydd Gwyndaf, who farms at Llechwedd Hafod Isaf, near Betws y Coed, said: “The abattoir at Caernarfon has had numerous problems over the years which have affected farm businesses, so there were naturally many questions members wanted to ask the new management.”

Mr Ali told those present that the company hopes to start taking lambs later this month and to build up to around 8,000 lambs a week once the go-ahead has been received from the FSA. The hope is that cattle will start being taken six to eight weeks later, building up to around 300 a week.

Mr Gwyndaf added: “The closure of Welsh Country Foods at Gaerwen left a massive dent in regional slaughtering capacity in North Wales, so we obviously hope that this business gets up off the ground and helps to fill that gap, and does not experience the sort of problems we have previously seen.”