The past 12 months have been the hardest many Welsh farmers have seen for many years, Farmers' Union of Wales president Emyr Jones told the union's annual general meeting in Aberystwyth today (June 17).

Mr Jones said the poor weather conditions had led to a fall in the quality and quantity of crops, low milk yields, huge losses of livestock and poor lambing and calving percentages – all on top of significant drops in farmgate returns.

"These were the problems facing the industry before the horrendous snow which hit in mid-March and persisted for many weeks, adding to the losses and costs across Wales and, for some of those worst affected in Mid and North Wales, leading to financial and emotional impacts comparable to those we experienced in 2001 when out industry was hit by Foot and Mouth disease.

"The FUW has made its views clear on the Welsh Government’s response to this crisis and many of you know that our Minister and I have had some heated exchanges regarding this matter.

"The Welsh Government and the FUW both know where each other stand, and I see no point in repeating what has already been said.

"We have therefore welcomed the Government’s decision to commission reviews by Kevin Roberts and Hybu Cig Cymru into various long and short term impacts of the weather over the past year, and what might be done by Government and industry to ensure that such impacts are minimised in future.

"Having engaged in both those reviews, the Union looks forward to seeing the final reports, and to working to ensure a prosperous industry: whatever our differences, both the FUW and Welsh Government share that vision for a prosperous industry.

"The single most important set of tools we have available to us to secure such prosperity, boost resilience and allow appropriate reactions by government to extreme events come under the Common Agricultural Policy and no doubt Kevin Roberts will reveal in his report how he believes such tools might be used in future.

"The FUW believes that such tools are best used in the same way they are used to help and strengthen our main competitors in other regions of the EU – after all, that should be the whole point of having a common policy within a single European market, and any changes which do not take into account what our counterparts are doing to help their supply chains and export markets have the potential to cause severe damage our own economy. 

"These are areas where the Welsh Government and the FUW have some differences of opinion and the Union has particular concerns that too little regard is paid to the policies of the Scots and Irish – our most significant competitors in many respects.

"But we are certainly of one mind when it comes to our belief that the CAP and EU membership are both critical to the economic viability of Wales.

"When it comes to the debate over EU membership, farmers should be in no doubt that our exit from the EU will not result in less red tape, since we will still be required to comply with EU standards if we are to import into the EU.

"And who is to say what our import quota for lamb or beef, or import tariffs, could look like if we were outside the EU?

"We know all too well what exclusion from the EU market can do to our prices: look at what happened to our beef industry from 1996 and the impact of FMD in 2001 – both bitter experiences of what being excluded from the EU market can do to our prices and farm incomes.

"Given that successive UK governments have made it clear that they do not want to provide support for agriculture, and are quite happy to liberalise food importation, it is difficult to imagine how we would survive outside the EU.

"Perhaps our exit from the EU is unlikely – I certainly hope so – but a threat of a similar nature has come from the creeping renationalisation of new CAP policies which has occurred over the past year as part of the horse trading between member states during the CAP negotiations.

"So far that horse trading has seen the UK giving up more of its Pillar 2 budget than any other member state, when we were entitled to a significant increase, and UK agreement with an increase in levels of coupled payments for other member states but only on the condition that our own threshold be reduced to almost half of what would be available in other countries.

"These are just two examples out of a number which would see Wales placed at a disadvantage to its competitors, and while we all wish to see a degree of flexibility which is appropriate to Wales, we cannot underestimate the dangers of moving away from overarching common policies.

"Put simply, the FUW believes that adopting a kind of island mentality and focusing in on aspirations for Welsh farming without taking into account the bigger picture, by weighing up what our competitors are doing and are likely to do in future, represents a huge danger for the economics of our entire food chain."

The total amount raised by the Farmers' Union of Wales’s charity fund for Cancer Research Wales (CRW) has broken through the £50,000 mark following a contribution of nearly £3,000 by the union's Caernarfonshire branch.

A £2,932 cheque - part of the final sum raised by the union's Caernarfonshire branch at a series of farmhouse breakfast events earlier this year - has just been presented to FUW national president Emyr Jones by county chairman Dafydd Gwyndaf.

Mr Jones said: "Last month I was delighted to hand over a £50,000 cheque to CRW patron and BBC TV news presenter Huw Edwards on the set of his BBC Wales Sunday night programme 'The Wales Report' so I was very pleased to accept this further handsome donation from Caernarfonshire.

"To have raised so much towards this very worthy cause is certainly beyond my wildest expectations. The money will help CRW continue its ground-breaking research into cancer treatments at facilities such as the Velindre Centre in Cardiff where its research laboratory was opened by Mr Edwards in 2000 and has since become a centre of excellence for the non-surgical treatment of cancer."

[caption id="attachment_2475" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dafydd Gwyndaf (second from left) presents the £2,932 cheque to Emyr Jones surrounded by other county officials (from left) executive officer Gwynedd Watkin, past president Morgan Jones-Parry and vice chairman Tudur Parry.[/caption]

How a small scale wind turbine provides valuable extra income for a farm on the southern slopes of Cader Idris in Meirionnydd while also making it self-sufficient for its electricity requirements has been illustrated to members and officials of the Farmers' Union of Wales county branch.

The group paid a visit to the farm - at Rhiwogof, Talyllyn, near Tywyn - of 35-year-old Dilwyn Pughe who runs it in partnership with his parents John and Meirwen Pughe. Dilwyn is married to Eleri and they have two children, eight-year-old Enlli and five-months-old Elgan.

Dilwyn is the fourth generation to take over the family farm which extends to around 1,000 acres of mainly hill and mountain land overlooking Talyllyn lake, with an extra 75 acres of lower land at Pennal, near Machynlleth.

Stocking includes 17 suckler cows, some of which are pedigree Simmental, and 500 Welsh Mountain ewes together with 140 yearlings.

Having lived previously at nearby Talyllyn with his parents, Dilwyn moved to Rhiwogof when he was 18 to farm with his grandparents and his great uncle Evan Nutting.

He spent a year at Glynllifon Agricultural College and took a keen interest in breeding quality stock and developing the farm enterprise.

"It was after attending a Farming Connect meeting that I was inspired to look for alternative means of income from the farm and I found the idea of a small wind turbine the ideal solution," he said.

He contacted Paul Burrell of Anemos Renewables who provided professional assistance and expertise in managing the entire planning process.

"The MCS-accredited Evance R9000 wind turbine has now been running for over six months and produces an average of 9-10,000 kw a year for the family," Dilwyn said.

"With an initial capital outlay of approximately £32,000, the turbine produces all the energy requirements of the farm itself and an income of over £3,000 per annum."

The wind turbine is located close to the farm buildings and Mr Burrell and Dilwyn gave those attending the farm visit further details of the project and answered a variety of questions.

The visitors were also shown other aspects of the farm enterprise which joined the Tir Cymen scheme when Meirionnydd was chosen as a pilot area in 1992.

At the end of the 10-year Tir Cymen agreement, the farm entered Tir Gofal for a further 10 years and is currently in the Tir Gofal transition until the end of the year.

An application has been completed for the Glastir Scheme to take effect from 2014 and the farm will also hopefully gain entry to the Glastir advanced scheme, also from that date.

Dilwyn has also taken advantage of the Young Entrants Support Scheme (Yess) and re-roofed a listed building on the farm grant aid "Rhaglen Tir Eryri" which was run some years ago by the Snowdonia National Park Authority. Another farm building has been re-roofed using capital grant aid under the Tir Gofal Scheme.

FUW president Emyr Jones said: "This farm visit gave me an ideal opportunity to warmly congratulate an enterprising young farmer such as Dilwyn and his family on their imaginative achievements."

[caption id="attachment_2470" align="aligncenter" width="274"] From left, Emyr Jones, Paul Burrell and Dilwyn Pughe at the hilltop location of the wind turbine[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2471" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Dilwyn checking the turbine's meter readings[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2472" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Pughe family with Emyr Jones. From left - Eleri, Dilwyn with baby Elgan, John and Meirwen[/caption]

Concerns over the impact of CAP reform, bovine TB and renewable energy on Welsh farms were highlighted by Farmers' Union of Wales officials and staff during a visit to family-run farming businesses by Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb.

Wyn and Glenda Jones, of Pantyderi and Trefach farms at Blaenffos, together with their son Eurig and Wyn’s mother Janet Jones rear beef and sheep plus arable acreage for home consumption on both holdings which run to 1,000 acres in total.

Seven hundred acres are permanent pasture, 100 acres are used for short term grass leys, 150 acres for arable spring barley, oats and winter wheat and 100 acres for forage crops stubble turnips, rape and swedes.

Across the two businesses the family farms 80 suckler cows, 350-400 store cattle - which are housed between November and May - 2,500 outdoor lambing ewes and keep 2,000-3,000 store lambs.

The family has diversified into renewable energy with 104 kw solar installation and also offer self-catering cottages.

Trefach Farm is currently under TB restrictions and is located within the Intensive Action Area. This has caused problems for the business as before the first TB short interval test, over 60 days after the breakdown occurred, the family was not allowed to buy in any store cattle for finishing.

The regular purchase of store cattle is essential to the business to ensure a constant supply of fat cattle into the food chain all year round.

“We are glad that we had the opportunity to discuss various farming issues, affecting all sectors, with Mr Crabb here at the farm,” said newly-elected FUW Pembrokeshire county chairman Hywel Vaughan.

“It is always good to show those, who don’t regularly come into close contact with the issues the farming industry faces, what happens on the ground.

“We emphasised the importance of ensuring the best financial deal possible for farmers in Wales during the CAP reform discussions and the need for a long transition period to allow businesses to adjust to any decreases in payments to their businesses.

“This is particularly important to farm businesses in Pembrokeshire as many farmers currently have high value entitlements due to the highly productive nature of farms in the area and would therefore see a significant drop in the amount of payment received after the reforms,” added Mr Vaughan.

Wyn Jones said: “It was a pleasure to have Mr Crabb as a visitor to our farm. The day was warm and sunny and it proved an ideal time to share views informally.

“It also gave us as individuals the insight as to how the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly regard agriculture in Wales. Being a family farm and employing local people it was important to hear his views as to the ongoing discussions on the CAP reforms.

“Traceability of produce was discussed and the MP was given a tour of the farm and shown grazing livestock destined for various outlets that would eventually be enjoyed by people in Wales and beyond but nevertheless be completely traceable - a very important reassurance given recent events,” added Mr Jones.

Mr Crabb said: “Agriculture is vitally important to Pembrokeshire's rural economy and it is important for me as the local MP to keep in close touch with local farmers.

“I was very interested to learn about the way that Pantyderi is farmed.  I particularly enjoyed the farm tour to view the livestock, land and buildings and to hear from Wyn Jones about each part of the farm’s operation.

“I value the meetings organised by the FUW as they give me the opportunity to discuss government policy with farmers and get feedback on the challenges that they face at this time,” added Mr Crabb.

[caption id="attachment_2465" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Facing the future together Wyn Jones (left) and his son Eurig[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2466" align="aligncenter" width="300"] From left, Eurig, Glenda and Wyn Jones, Stephen Crabb MP and FUW finance and organisation committee south Wales member Brian Thomas[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_2467" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Farmer Wyn Jones (standing) discussing agricultural issues with FUW finance and organisation committee south Wales member Brian Thomas (centre) and Preseli Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb[/caption]