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.

[caption id="attachment_249" align="aligncenter" width="550"] From right, Grace Vasami, Gino Vasami, Tony Vasami and his partner Maja Rzeczycka and daughter Maria[/caption]

A passion for good food and a love of the Welsh countryside and its people are the driving force behind an Italian family-run restaurant on the outskirts of Ffostrasol, near Llandysul in Ceredigion.

Gino Vasami, who farms 110 acres at Rhydgoch farm, Ffostrasol, converted the old milking parlour and set up the La Calabria restaurant for his son Tony in November 2003.

Gino's father Antonio was captured by the British in the siege of Tobruk, North Africa, and brought to prisoner-of-war camp near Ffostrasol at Henllan. While in captivity Antonio worked on farms in Ceredigion, falling in love with the land and its people.

On his release he went back to Italy for one year but returned to Ceredigion with his family to farm in 1946. Antonio purchased Hill View farm for £1,000 and started off with just 18 acres and four milking cows. Over the generations the family has gone from strength to strength and expanded the family business to three holdings.

Tony and Gino farm in partnership with Tony Hack and his wife Arlene, of nearby Glasfryn farm and, using their own milk, the family produce ice cream following an old Italian family recipe for the restaurant. They have established over 20 flavours by now.

All of the produce from the farm is used in the restaurant with the animals being taken for slaughter in Tregaron. Gino's great nephew, Steffan Hack, has also purchased some Charollais sheep whose lambs will be on the restaurant menu by Easter next year.

In the Summer months the family also grow herbs and vegetables in the garden that are used in the restaurant. They include chilli peppers and artichokes.

"When my son Tony came back to live in Wales after working for big chain hotels in London, he helped me on the farm but I could tell that farming was not really in his heart so I asked him what he wanted to do and he really wanted his own restaurant," said Gino.

"So we sold Hill View farm in 2000 and invested the money in the restaurant. I converted the old parlour on my own and only sought help with the roof.

"It took me about three years to finish the job. It is the best thing we ever did and we have just celebrated our fifth anniversary."

Gino was four years old when he came to live in Ceredigion and had to return to Italy for his military service. It was during this time that he learnt how restaurants were being run in Calabria, a southern region of Italy, and this is how he runs the restaurant together with his wife Grace, 55, and son Tony.

"The way things grow in Calabria, it is with sun. You can taste it, you can smell it. The food is just great. I wanted to bring this passion and the flavours of Italy to Wales for a long time," said Gino.

"The restaurant is going from strength to strength but if it weren't for the local people here in Wales we would not be able to keep the place going. Their support since we opened the restaurant has just been fantastic.

"I go back to Italy once a year as my wife Grace still has family over there but my heart and way of life is here in Wales. Wales is just fantastic, apart from the weather."

Tony Vasami previously worked at the Regents Park Marriott Hotel in Swiss Cottage in London prior to 2003 for four years as food and beverage manager looking after the bar, restaurant, room service and banqueting departments.

He said: "It was a busy 305-bedroom hotel in the heart of London. As it was close to the Emirates Stadium we had many football teams staying there like Man Utd, Blackburn, Newcastle Utd and also the England cricket team when they played their test matches at Lords. it was an amazing experience but I wanted to come back to Wales.

"Before we opened the restaurant I had help from Farming Connect to prepare a business plan and obtain valuable information about the tourist economy in West Wales.

"The interesting thing for me at the time was that, although the standard of tourist accommodation in West Wales was high, places to eat were very poor and the first choice of restaurant to visit more than any other was an Italian.

"As there were none in West Wales at the time, I thought I had definitely found a little niche in the market. With my knowledge of the industry and my mother's cooking skills I thought we would do well."

Gino added: "My wife Grace is the driving force in the kitchen and she does all of the cooking. The restaurant can now seat 70 people and it is because of her cooking people come here.

"The sauce is the most important thing when it comes to cooking Italian food. My mum did the sauce the old-fashioned way and she taught my wife. And this is how Grace still cooks in the restaurant

[caption id="attachment_3754" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Tony and Arlene Hack with some of their 12-week-old calves.[/caption]

Living in fear of bovine TB has been a constant struggle for Ceredigion dairy farmer Tony Hack and his family over the past 18 months.

Tony, 49, whose roots lie in the Calabria region of Italy, runs Glasfryn farm, Rhydlewis, near Llandysul, with his wife 44-year-old Arlene. They have already suffered from the devastating effects of bTB after losing over 40 cattle to the disease.

Together with his cousin Tony Vasami and uncle Gino Vasami he runs 300 acres across the two family-owned farms - Glasfryn and Rhydgoch at nearby Ffostrasol.

Tony runs a dairy pedigree herd of 100 Holsteins and 25 pedigree Brown Swiss and Ayrshire cattle at Glasfryn and the 2,500 litres of milk produced daily are used for cheese production by Glanbia and at his cousin's Italian restaurant La Calabria, on the outskirts of Ffostrasol, for their home-made ice cream.

The higher fat content in the milk was achieved by introducing the Brown Swiss and Ayrshire cattle which guarantees an extra penny per litre of milk.

"We do all we can to top up the farm business income and this is why we are not chasing the liquid market," said Mr Hack. "We produce high fat content milk for cheese production, which guarantees an extra penny per litre of milk."

Mr Hack, who also has a full-time job as a breeding adviser for Semex, added: "With the constant threat of a bTB breakdown this extra income is vital.

"If you lose a good cow herd, you can't just replace them - it doesn't work like that. We have just had a clear bTB test and sincerely hope that the next test in 60 days' time will be clear as well.

"The Welsh Government really needs to take further action to control the badger population and eradicate bTB if they want to see family farms survive in the future."

The Hacks are planning on expanding their dairy herd and extending the flock of Charollais sheep once their son Steffan, 17, joins the family business next year after completing his agriculture course at Gelli Aur College.

"We want to expand the dairy herd once my son comes to join the family business but it's going to be hard if we keep losing cattle to bTB," said Mr Hack.

"I have been farming since I was 16 years old and farming has been in the family for generations. I am happy that my son wants to join the family farm business but unless the Welsh Government sorts out bTB I 'm afraid it's going to put a lot of youngsters off joining the industry."