Welsh farmers were urged today to take advantage of advances in technology and research to maximise output whilst controlling production costs during the Farmers’ Union of Wales autumn conference at Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

Opening the conference FUW president Emyr Jones said: “Significant inroads have been made in ‘producing more from less’ but margins remain tight and we farmers must continue to work towards maximising outputs whilst controlling production costs.

“Technological advances in agriculture are not the result of adopting a one-tool technique but, instead, represent numerous different types of techniques to provide a package of technologies to suit different farm types and different kinds of stock.

“Over the past 20 years, agricultural productivity has advanced at a greater rate than ever before.  However, the ever-increasing pressure to reduce production costs and the rising global demand for food means that enhancing agricultural productivity remains a key challenge for the farming sector.

“Whilst adverse weather conditions and other factors, such as disease outbreaks, will have a short-term impact on productivity, it will be the longer-term advances and developments in agri-technologies that will have an impact on the growth, productivity and success of the sector as a whole.

“We are pleased to have such excellent examples of how the industry is moving forward through technology and research here today,” added Mr Jones.

Welsh farmers were urged today to carefully read any correspondence they may receive from the Land Registry with details of landowners who registered their manorial rights before the October 13 deadline.

Farmers' Union of Wales Montgomeryshire county executive officer Susan Jones said that after local landowners in the area had registered manorial rights by the October  deadline, farmers were now starting to receive notices from the Land Registry advising them a third party is seeking to protect the mineral interests.

"The notices explain who has made the application, what they are seeking to register and how to get more information if it is needed. They also require any objections to the registration to be submitted within 21 days," Mrs Jones said.

"It is this time period which farmers must make sure they meet if they wish to appeal. I've been receiving lots of calls from farmers about this issue and I'm concerned that some may not be aware of the need to respond within the 21-day deadline if they want an appeal considered.

"Land Registry lawyers will consider any objections in the first instance. Any ‘valid’ objections - for example, if you can prove the rights belong to you or they no longer exist - will then be considered."

The new police and crime commissioner for Dyfed-Powys stressed his top priority is to develop a rural policing force and take on more special constables when he recently addressed Farmers' Union of Wales' Carmarthenshire county executive committee.

Christopher Salmon provided details of his responsibilities such as setting priorities for policing and controlling the force's budget - £55m is received from Central Government with the remaining £45m from public taxes.

Dyfed-Powys is the largest rural police force in the UK with 500,000 people covered by the service. In comparison, the Thames Valley police force is responsible for policing five million people in an area a third of the size.

With the force thinly spread out over the area Dyfed-Powys Police, therefore, depends greatly on the local community to keep them informed of crime and to report suspicious incidents.

FUW Carmarthenshire county chairman Catherine Nakielny said: "Mr Salmon gave us a really interesting insight into the challenges facing the force and what changes this new office have put in place in recent months.

"The rural nature of our locality seems to provide challenges and opportunities and one of the messages which came out was that as well as relying on the police force we also need to work together to help prevent rural crime.

"A good example given was the OWL messaging service. This service informs local residents including farmers of any issue having occurred in the area," Dr Nakielny added.

To sign up for either the e-mail or text message service, FUW members should contact the County Office on 01267 237 974.

[caption id="attachment_2669" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] COMMISSIONER CALLS: From left, FUW county vice chairman Brian Richards, Christopher Salmon, Catherine Nakielny and county president Ian Rickman.[/caption]

Tragic tales of the consequences of the mis-selling of swap loans, also known as Interest Rate Hedging (IRH) products, were outlined at a recent meeting attended by Farmers' Union of Wales business development director Emyr James.

"Scores of business proprietors from all over Wales who had been sold IRH products gathered at Ty Hywel in Cardiff Bay to raise awareness amongst Assembly Members of a major issue with the sales," said Mr James.

“Farmers are amongst businesses where there is the possibility that mis-selling has taken place. Some have complained about their plight but it is believed there are many more farmers affected by this issue who are reluctant to come forward.

"Tragic tales of the consequences of mis-selling were heard at the meeting including businesses going into administration and high levels of personal stress."

Chaired by Ceredigion AM Elin Jones, the meeting was addressed by Aberconwy MP Guto Bebb and founding director of Bully Banks Jeremy Roe who outlined their lobbying efforts at Westminster and with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

In January 2013, the former Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that over 90 per cent of sales from a sample study of cases breached their regulations and over 90 per cent of those were mis-sold.

"This high proportion of non-compliant sales is being replicated in the ongoing FCA-supervised review which aims to provide rapid, fair and reasonable redress to small businesses mis-sold these instruments.

"It is generally accepted that the sale of these Swap Loan products to family farming businesses was totally inappropriate as they were far too complicated for them to fully understand the risks involved.”

Mr James advises any farming business in doubt whether they have been sold an IRH product or swap loan to take the following steps: 

• Enquire of your bank whether any loan account established/restructured during period 2005-2008 is an IRH product.

• If you have been sold an IRH/swap loan, ask your bank to review the selling process in accordance with FCA guidelines.

• Report the fact that there is the possibility you may have been mis-sold a swap loan to your MP and AM.

• Join Bully Banks, an organisation made up of individuals who have been mis-sold a hedging product that coordinates representation at FSA and Central Government level to secure proper redress and compensation.