A recent survey conducted by the Farmers’ Union of Wales revealed a need to increase awareness of the potential impacts of Bovine Virus Diarrhoea (BVD) infection in Welsh cattle herds.

The questionnaire process captured information about thousands of cattle from across Wales and demonstrated that almost half of the farmers surveyed had a farm health plan which included BVD.

“However, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the economic impacts and welfare issues caused by this virus,” said FUW senior policy officer Hazel Wright.

BVD is thought to be widespread in the UK and has now been identified as one of the non-statutory endemic disease priorities for both the dairy and beef cattle sectors in Wales by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Strategy Steering Group (AHWSSG).

At the end of last year, a Wales BVD sub-group, including representatives from Welsh Government, Hybu Cig Cymru, BVA, DairyCo, Gelli Aur College, Menter a Busnes and the FUW, was established to further the work of the AHWSSG and this sub-group met for the first time at the 2012 Royal Welsh Winter Fair.

Alongside hosting the inaugural meeting of the BVD sub-group, the FUW issued a BVD questionnaire at the Winter Fair to identify current BVD priority areas in Wales and to better inform the work of the BVD sub-group.

Dr Wright, who also represents the FUW on the AHWSSG, said: “Infection with BVD can cause a number of health problems including reduced conception rates, protracted calving periods, increased abortion rates, stillbirths and deformed and weak calves.

“The economic losses of an uncontrolled BVD outbreak can therefore be substantial.”

BVD infection also leads to a suppression of disease resistance allowing calf pneumonia and diarrhoea problems to be more severe, resulting in greater calf losses.

Dr Wright added: “Infection in the first third of pregnancy is especially concerning because developing calves that survive will remain Persistently Infected (PI) with BVD. PI calves often appear healthy but they will shed the virus throughout their lives and are therefore a major source of spread for this virus.

“Some PI calves will develop mucosal disease and will die before they reach maturity. However, significant numbers of PI calves survive well into adulthood.”

Risk factors include the purchase of infected stock, contact with neighbours’ cattle across fences and contact at markets or shows.

“Engaging in testing programmes to monitor the level of BVD in the herd and control programmes to lessen the impact of any outbreak are essential. It is vital that farmers discuss this disease with their vet in order to address any potential risks as part of their herd health plan,” said Dr Wright.

Events ranging from a hearty breakfast in a Snowdonia farmhouse kitchen to a prestigious lunch at the House of Lords have been organised by the Farmers' Union of Wales to promote locally-produced Welsh food.

The various functions - starting with a Welsh buffet breakfast next Tuesday (January 15) at the National Assembly's Senedd building in Cardiff Bay - will support this month's Farmhouse Breakfast Week, an annual campaign organised since 2000 by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA).

Between January 21 and 25 breakfasts will be held on a total of ten farms in Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire and Flintshire and another at Bryncir livestock martket's cafe.

The FUW's traditional House of Lords event will be held on Tuesday January 29. Both the Senedd and Lords functions are sponsored by the Welsh Government, Welsh red meat promotion agency Hybu Cig Cymru and E.ON.

During the Senedd breakfast deputy agriculture minister Alun Davies will launch Farming Connect's Agri-Academy 2013 which has two distinct elements - the Business & Innovation Programme and the Rural Leadership Programme. The latter is a joint collaboration with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society.

The 12 candidates selected for last year’s Business & Innovation Programme and the 16 selected for the Rural Leadership Programme were nominated by Farming Connect stakeholder organisations including the FUW, NFU Cymru, Wales YFC, the Country Landowners Association and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society.

FUW president Emyr Jones said the union is a keen supporter of HGCA's campaign which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of eating a healthy breakfast and demonstrate the rich variety of breakfast foods available in Wales and the rest of the UK.

 "I am aware that in the UK one in four people skip breakfast during the week and as many as one in six adults never eat breakfast even though experts claim it is the most important meal of the day and plays a key role in helping tackle obesity.

"The NHS also says eating breakfast has long term health benefits and can reduce obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

"The theme for HGCA's campaign 'Shake Up Your Wake Up' encourages us to make small changes to our morning routine to make sure you have time for breakfast every day!

"It is all about showcasing the most important meal of the day in a bid to raise awareness of the health and nutritional benefits of breakfast and the huge variety of top quality farm produce available in Wales - ranging from bacon, sausages and eggs to speciality dairy products, breads and cereals."

The Caernarfonshire breakfasts - with proceeds shared between Mr Jones' chosen charity Cancer Research Wales (CRW), Pwllheli's Ysgol Hafod Lon mini bus appeal fund, Gwynedd SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death) and other local charities - will be held on:

Monday January 21 at T?’n Hendre, Tal-y-bont, Bangor (contact Anita Thomas on 01248 362 871);

Tuesday January 22 - Pant Eithinog, Penygroes (contact Manon Evans on 01286 880 298);

Wednesday January 23 - Glasfryn, Y Ffôr (contact Emma on 01766 810 202);

Thursday January 24 - Bodwrdda, Aberdaron (contact Nia Jones on 01758 760 212) and Glyn Uchaf, Tynygroes, Conwy (contact Ifora Owen on 01492 651 267);

Friday January 25 - Dylasau Uchaf, Padog (contact Eleri Roberts on 01690 770 215 and Caffi Anne’s Cafe, Bryncir Mart (contact Gwenda on 01286 672 541).

Denbighshire breakfasts will be held on:

Monday January 21 at Pontruffydd, Bodfari, Dinbych, LL16 4BP (contact Eirlys Roberts on 01745 710 245) and at Ysgeibion Farm, Cyffylliog, Rhuthun, LL15 2BT (contact Iorwen Jones on 01824 710 259);

Tuesday January 22 - Pen y Bryn, Maenan, Llanrwst, LL26 0UH (contact FUW area officer Caryl Edwards on 07557 507 882).

The Flintshire breakfast will be held on:

Wednesday January 23 at Bach y Graig, Tremeirchion, St Asaph, LL17 0UH (contact Anwen Roberts on 01745 730 627).

Anyone wishing to attend the farmhouse breakfasts should contact the farm directly or the FUW's Caernarfonshire county office on 01286 672 541 or Denbigh and Flint county office on 01824 707 198.

Food production is not keeping pace with demand and the implications of this are terrifying, Farmers' Union of Wales president Emyr Jones warns in his New Year Message.

Mr Jones recalls that, during a recent visit to the European Parliament, he was presented with a copy of "The Politics of Land and Food Scarcity" by the book's editor Professor Paolo De Castro.

Prof De Castro is an agricultural economist, a former Italian Minister of Agriculture, and, as chairman of the committee tasked with scrutinising, negotiating and distilling proposed changes to the Common Agricultural Policy, is currently the most important person in the EU in relation to agriculture.

Mr Jones said: "De Castro's book makes for uncomfortable reading. Its introduction summarises the situation by stating that the current emergency '...in our latitudes, where expenditure [on food] counts for less than 15 per cent of overall household expenditure, risks being viewed as remote, while it is actually dramatically close'.

"That emergency is the fact that food production is not keeping pace with demand, and the political and wider implications of this over the coming years are truly terrifying.

"This has long been recognised by experts and agriculturalists around the globe but news of the emergency has apparently yet to reach the powers that be in Westminster.

"While countries such as China are involved in 'land grabbing' in Africa and elsewhere as part of the struggle to secure food supplies, our own UK Government and the opposition argue in favour of effectively abandoning our key control over food production - the Common Agricultural Policy - which was designed to address just such an emergency.

"Politicians are renowned for not being able to see further than the next election but it also seems than many are unable to learn from the lessons of living-memory. Our dependence upon food imports in the 1930s almost led to starvation and the loss of the War in the 1940s, and rationing continued well into the 1950s.

"While the prospect of another war on our doorsteps seems far away, population growth and food productivity, coupled with rising energy costs, climate change and a host of other challenges, mean that what we now face is unprecedented.

"The Welsh Government and others are, to their credit, arguing such points, and within continental Europe EU and across the globe these challenges are at the forefront of discussions. Meanwhile, UK Government and opposition continue to sleepwalk into the biggest emergency we have ever faced.

"Over the next year, critical decisions regarding how we finance and alter the Common Agricultural Policy will be made and these will have a dramatic impact on how we deal with the emergency.

"As the UK focusses on extreme arguments regarding membership of the EU, those which relate to retaining control of our own democracy while ensuring we are united enough to face the coming storm seem thin on the ground.

"Let us hope that 2013 brings change."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today warned Welsh farmers that they may become the target for fraudsters seeking to obtain their bank details over the telephone or online to coincide with the release of their Single Farm Payments.

"The Welsh Government and other UK agriculture departments have already been made aware by UK banks that fraudsters may be targeting the agricultural sector," said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"Although Rural Payments Wales say they have not been informed of any Welsh victims of this fraud we would still urge farmers to be vigilant and bear in mind the possibility they may be approached by fraudsters posing as an official from their bank or other organisation."

Rural Payments Wales has advised that the UK paying agencies and other official bodies will never ask for personal or banking data by telephone or by e-mail.

Their message is the same as with all advice to avoid fraud:

• Your bank will never request your full online banking information,
• Your bank will never request a token response to log into your online banking account,
• Your bank will never ask you to make a payment over the phone using your online account,
• If your "bank" asks you to call back you should ensure you can hear a dial tone first, or use a mobile to call your bank directly, as the phone line may be held open by the fraudsters.