Recently-retired Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) regional officer  for Wales Erys Hughes was honoured by the Farmers' Union of Wales at the Royal Welsh Show in Llanelwedd yesterday (Wednesday July 23 ) when he was presented with the union's annual external award for services to the agricultural industry in Wales.

Mr Hughes joined RABI in May 1999 as a part-time regional welfare officer looking after beneficiaries in Wales and joined the fundraising, marketing and communications team on a full-time basis in September 2001.

RABI also utilise his vast amount of experience and expertise at Manson and Beaufort House, RABI’s two residential homes where he is a regular visitor welcomed warmly by residents and staff.

Paying tribute to the contribution of Mr Hughes to Welsh farming for so many years, FUW president Emyr Jones said: "It is highly significant that the nominations for this award are made by the union's members throughout Wales and then our county branches vote on each nomination.

"This ensures those who receive the award are very worthy recipients and can be assured they have the strong support of a huge number of Welsh farmers. Therefore, I am delighted to present Erys with this award today.

“The work RABI does for farming families in Wales is invaluable.  We have seen extreme weather such as drought, rain, floods, heavy snow, and more floods making recent years the most challenging for farming families and RABI have, since 2001 when foot and mouth wreaked havoc, supported farming families in Wales totaling over one million pounds in grants.

“Erys has been at the forefront of these efforts here in Wales and for this we thank him today.”

Mr Hughes was born and raised on a smallholding and even today he assists close family during some of the busy periods of the farming calendar. He worked for over 30 years for three county councils in Wales in positions including mental welfare officer, social worker and senior social worker.

He is a founder member and chairperson for a number of years of the Welshpool branch of MIND, an active committee member of the Mid Wales branch of RELATE and a regular member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal which involved sitting on appeals usually on a monthly basis.

RABI chief executive Paul Burrows said: “Erys has certainly raised the profile and awareness of RABI since he became the charity’s first regional manager for Wales.

“His charming and persuasive personality certainly helped him become well-known across the whole of Wales and in addition to promoting the work of RABI he helped promote Welsh agriculture. He is a gentleman and a true professional.

“The overall impact of the last three years means it may take many farmers years to recover their losses. This is in addition to the economic effect of other problems we help people with such as illness, accidents, family breakdown, bereavement, and animal disease such as bovine TB, or simply the inability to make a living from their business, or survive comfortably in retirement.

“Throughout 2013 we gave £393,322.00 to help farming families in Wales.

“Even the best-managed business can be hit by unexpected events, and farms of all sizes, all over the country, have been affected, with the impact falling on owner farmers, tenant farmers and farm workers as well as their families.

“The support we have given to people in the past year has ranged from helping to pay utility and council tax arrears, rent and bankruptcy fees, paying for funerals, heating, clothing and even food vouchers.

“We are very lucky to have Erys on our team and we are most delighted with the recognition of services to agriculture in Wales awarded to him today by the Farmers’ Union of Wales,” added Mr Burrows.

[caption id="attachment_3007" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] FUW president Emyr Jones presenting recently-retired Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) regional officer for Wales Erys Hughes with the union's annual external award for services to the agricultural industry in Wales[/caption]

An increase in the number of new entrants to the dairy sector, have been described as extremely positive for the industry by the Farmers’ Union of Wales today.

“With the abolition of milk quotas in 2015, new entrants will have a positive starting platform and this has been recognised by the almost 200 new dairy farmers who are expressing an interest in joining the industry in the coming year,” said FUW vice president Brian Walters.

The union has long campaigned to see more Welsh milk on the shelves of supermarkets and strongly hopes that retailers will support our new dairy farmers by sourcing their dairy products closer to home and not looking elsewhere in a market that is in direct competition with ours.

“There are some concerns that increased milk production may have an affect on the milk price and we would therefor continue to urge processors to pay our farmers a fair price to ensure that the new entrants will not be let down by their home market,” added Mr Walters.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has described a meeting with newly appointed DEFRA secretary of state, Liz Truss, as extremely positive.

Speaking after the meeting, which took place at the Royal Welsh Show today (July 21), FUW president Emyr Jones said “We covered a range of issues of concern to the Welsh industry, including bovine TB, farmgate commodity prices, and the future of the CAP.

“We also took the opportunity to congratulate the minister on the newly announced £400 million plan for public procurement.”

Mr Jones said there was a great deal of common ground, and that the union looked forward to working with the minister over the coming months with regard to those issues which are not devolved.

[caption id="attachment_3002" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] from left: FUW finance and organisation committee member Eifion Huws, DEFRA secretary of state Liz Truss, FUW president Emyr Jones and FUW deputy president Glyn Roberts[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has welcomed a commitment by prime minister David Cameron and environment secretary Liz Truss to boost public food procurement by central government.

The plan for public procurement, worth £400 million for British farming, would see central government committing to buying fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food, from 2017.

Speaking after a reception with prime minister David Cameron, FUW president Emyr Jones said: “Whilst we understand that this is a central government plan, it will clearly bring benefits for farmers across the UK, and we hope will encourage all public bodies to follow suit, including those not run by central government and in Wales.

“The FUW has been lobbying for precisely this type of commitment ever since I have been involved with the union and we congratulate Mr Cameron for this initiative. “

“It is in all our interests to ensure that all public bodies use locally sourced and seasonal food to ensure a prosperous and thriving economy.

“It is extremely frustrating when some government departments work hard to support rural communities and promote our produce, while others are actively buying from our competitors,” added Mr Jones.