The launch of the dairy code of practice at the Livestock 2012 event in Birmingham was welcomed by the Farmers’ Union of Wales today.

The FUW has consistently reiterated publicly and to MPs the importance of eliminating unfair contracts and the need to establish more balanced terms and conditions in producer/processor contracts.

This included FUW support for the Milk Contracts Early Day Motion in Parliament in March 2012 put forward by Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards.

More recently, the union also threw its weight behind the concept of a UK Dairy Farmers’ Together umbrella group which will allow collaboration and communication between producer groups.

Following the launch of the code of practice, FUW milk and dairy produce committee chairman Dei Davies said: “We are generally pleased with the finalised code of practice and will now seek to ensure that this code is backed up with proper policing, monitoring and evaluation.

“Farmers should have a fair balance of power with their milk purchasers and contracts should be formed in such a way that milk prices will not be dropped without sufficient advance notice.

“Elements of the code, such as shorter termination periods, the abolition of retrospective price adjustments and the inclusion of a market-based pricing formula will aid in shifting the balance of power back in the direction of the producer.

“We are now prepared to give the code of practice a chance to work for farmers in Wales.

“However, we know that Welsh government officials have already begun working on draft legislation for dairy contracts in Wales.  If the new voluntary code of conduct fails then the FUW will be looking closer at the benefits of legislation.”

Union officials recently met with Mr Edwards at the union’s Carmarthenshire office branch and further discussed the mechanisms by which the code of practice could be monitored and how contract legislation could be implemented in Wales if necessary.

Mr Davies, a dairy farmer in Holywell, added: "In the long term it is essential for all those involved in the supply chain to work together to ensure stability within the industry.

"The forming of Producer Organisations, adoption of a Code of Conduct and the development of acceptable contracts all have an important role to play in doing this.”

[caption id="attachment_4074" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams[/caption]

Farmers’ Union of Wales’ land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams today urged farmers to consider their on-farm rat control measures.

Highlighting the work of the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU), the FUW advised farmers to evaluate their rodenticide use before livestock housing and where feed stores are already full with high value grain and forage.

“We urge farmers to be on the lookout for an early influx of rats caused by recent heavy rain and follow the instructions on the rodenticides to ensure a best-practice and effective approach,” said Mr Williams.

CRRU recommend the development of a site map on which all bait points are marked. This is important for monitoring treatments and helps demonstrate good practice.

“It is important to use sufficient baiting points and also ensure that bait is removed at the end of treatment,” added Mr Williams.

The Health and Safety Executive are currently consulting on the use of anticoagulant rodenticides and it is vital to ensure that these chemicals remain available to the industry through the adoption of best practise techniques.

The CRRU have developed a code of practice which advises farmers to:

• Use a planned approach, keeping a record of actions, locations and dates.
• Use enough baiting points and mark each one on a site plan.
• Record quantity of bait at each location, including top ups.
• Collect and dispose of rodent bodies regularly.
• Ensure bait is not accessible to non-target species (including pets and children).
• Inspect every bait location regularly and replenish accordingly.
• Remove all bait from every location at the end of the treatment period.

More details of the seven-point CRRU code of practice are listed on the CRRU website (www.thinkwildlife.org.uk)

[caption id="attachment_4025" align="aligncenter" width="300"] From left, FUW Glamorgan county executive officer Rachel Taylor, Birch Farm Plastics Cheryl Birch, FUW vice president Lorraine Howells, FUW president Emyr Jones, Huw Irranca-Davies MP and FUW finance and organisation committee member Brian Thomas.[/caption]

Farmers have been to see how the farming industry can dispose of its polythene waste in a greener way at a newly opened state-of-the-art agricultural waste wash plant in Glamorganshire.

British Polythene Industries (bpi.recycled products), Europe's largest polythene recycler of 95,000 tonnes of material per annum, opened its Rhymney factory doors to show farmers how they can dispose of items such as silage wrap, feed bags, fertiliser bags and polytunnels.

Farmers' Union of Wales president Emyr Jones, who attended the visit, said: "The disposal of farm plastics is extremely important for livestock farmers and this new plant makes recycling waste plastics more cost effective for farmers as well as making a significant contribution towards 'greening' as a greater proportion of this material can now be recycled within the UK."

The company said waste farm plastic continues to be a major problem for British farmers and growers with up to 80,000 tonnes of this material generated annually.

Currently, there isn't sufficient capacity in the UK to recycle all of this material and as a result much of it is exported to countries like Vietnam and Malaysia where it is often recycled using primitive techniques that damage the local environment.

An unacceptably high volume of waste farm polythene in the UK is also still being sent to landfill or, worse still, illegally burnt. bpi.recycled products' new wash plant helps to reduce these undesirable methods of waste management.

FUW Glamorganshire county executive officer Rachel Taylor, who organised the visit, said: "Many farmers struggle to dispose of plastic from items such as silage wrap and feed bags. Visiting this plant has been a great opportunity for our members to see first-hand how they can solve this problem in an effective and environmentally friendly way."

Representing an investment of £4.5 million, it is the largest wash plant of its kind in the country and will enable bpi.recycled products to recycle an additional 25,000 tonnes of material, such as used silage bale wrap and horticultural film, each year.

This waste will be used to create new products such as refuse sacks, outdoor furniture and building films.                                                                                                                       

In addition to being the largest facility of its kind in the country, the new wash plant is also the greenest. To maximise its efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment, it employs features such as low energy, high output motors, energy saving lighting and rainwater harvesting to replace the water lost each day.

Ogmore MP and DEFRA shadow food and farming minister Huw Irranca-Davies, who also attended the visit, said: " It's been a tremendous experience to see the full life cycle of recycling agricultural waste plastics into useful commercial products.

"What is particularly inspiring is the way farmers are coming together to help recycling, help each other and in doing so create many jobs here in Wales."

[caption id="attachment_4021" align="aligncenter" width="300"] From left, FUW vice president Richard Vaughan, national livestock, wool and marts committee chairman Dafydd Roberts, national land use and parliamentary committee chairman Gavin Williams, Emyr Jones, Albert Owen MP and Alwyn Rowlands.[/caption]

The Farmers' Union of Wales stand at the Anglesey Show gets so busy officials were forced to hold top-level meetings this year in an Ifor Williams livestock trailer alongside the union's marquee on the showground.

"Every year we organise meetings that are normally held within the marquee. However, it is always heaving with visitors and we, therefore, find it difficult to hear what our guests have to say," said FUW Anglesey county executive office Heidi Williams.

"So I had a brainwave and decided this year to hold the meetings in a livestock trailer - a clean one, of course! We borrowed it from our county chairman Tecwyn Roberts who, unfortunately, was competing in the beef classes at the time of our meeting with the island's MP Albert Owen.

"It worked extremely well and our local FUW members were given ample time to ask the guests questions. Topics raised on the show day were milk prices, CAP reform and EID.

"Anglesey County Council's smallholdings were also discussed at great length and members stressed that it was imperative that the council were not to make rash decisions and decide to sell them.

"Members also highlighted the fact that these farms were long term 'assets' for the council," Mrs Williams added.