[caption id="attachment_3876" align="aligncenter" width="500"] PLAQUE UNVEILING: Lord Morris and Emyr Jones during the official opening[/caption]

Former Secretary of State for Wales Lord Morris of Aberavon has expressed serious concerns for the survival of the UK dairy industry.

Opening the Farmers' Union of Wales's iconic new pavilion at the Royal Welsh Showground, the union's first deputy general secretary and legal adviser, said the dairy industry is "withering on the vine" because it is operating on an unfair playing field.

"There is something completely wrong when a pint of milk is about 50p and a pint of water 83p!" he said.

"The major supermarkets hold the industry in their grip but some firms have been less fair than others - to their discredit.

"Do they really want, in their own interests, the dairy industry to die?

"When I was a young man working for farmers there were 6,000 registered milk producers in Carmarthenshire alone.

"I doubt whether there are 3,000 in the whole of Wales now.

"The Westminster minister of agriculture is trying to agree a voluntary code of practice with the dairy and retail industries and to work with them to ensure stability in the market.

"In a deregulatory age this is the only offer on the table and I wish the minister well - time is not on his side for it to succeed.

"The whole supply chain needs repair, perhaps more robustly."

Lord Morris welcomed eminent agriculturalist Lord Plumb's recent support in the House of Lords of a Groceries Code Adjudicator (Ombudsman) to ensure fairness in the market place.

"The only argument was what powers he should have.

"It reminds me of the time when there was a process of arbitration involving the Milk Marketing Board, the industry and the retailers. It is a welcome step forward." 

Dealing with another topical issue, Lord Morris said the dairy herd must be kept in good health and he welcomed "positive steps" being taken at last in England to deal with badger culling.

"The former Welsh agriculture minister Elin Jones is to be commended for her brave and pioneering fight (to introduce a badger cull in Wales). It was the process that let her down.

"I hope Wales will watch closely at what is happening in England.

"A reduction in tuberculosis would bring a welcome relief to both the industry and the taxpayer."

FUW president Emyr Jones said it was an easy decision for the union's presidential team to choose Lord Morris to open the pavilion.

"In his recently-published autobiography he reminds us of the difficult times the union faced in its formative years.

"In chapter three he recalls the time when he came home for Christmas in 1955 and 'all hell had broken loose in the farming community in Carmarthen and Ceredigion'.

"A small minority of farmers had broken away from the NFU and formed the FUW.

"People said at the time that this union would not last more than three months but this building is proof that we are here to stay.

"It is very important for everybody connected to the industry to work together to make sure that we have a strong and prosperous farming industry in Wales.

"Please don't play politics with the future of the industry in Wales."

With August 1 rapidly approaching all milk processors must follow the example set by others and reverse decisions to reduce farmgate milk prices - or face the anger of the farming industry, the Farmers' Union of Wales said today.

Today global dairy company Arla Foods joined First Milk and Dairy Crest who had earlier this week done a U-turn by withdrawing plans to reduce the milk price it pays to farmers in its liquid and balancing pools from next Wednesday (August 1).

FUW dairy and milk produce committee chairman, Holywell dairy farmer Dei Davies, welcomed the decision but warned that others must now follow suit or face the wrath of the industry.

Following a meeting for FUW dairy producers at the Royal Welsh Show on Thursday, Mr Davies said: "Dairy farmers have their backs to the wall and are facing further increases in input costs as the summer goes on.

"We desperately need a long term solution, but in the short term all processors need to undo the damage done over recent weeks and months.

"This has been made clear during meetings with numerous processors, politicians and other farming organisations over the past weeks, and we will continue to make this clear at a number of further meetings arranged for the coming weeks."

The Scarlets rugby region and the Farmers' Union of Wales teamed up at the Royal Welsh Show today to highlight the nutritional benefits of milk for young sportspeople.

During a visit to the union's pavilion alongside the main ring a group of Scarlets sampled a variety of milk dinks produced in Pembrokeshire by family-run company Trioni Ltd and supplied by team sponsor Daioni.

"The drinks are low in sugar and fat and are free from preservatives and artificial colours," said FUW member Laurence Harris, the farmer behind the Trioni brand.

The players' group was led by Scarlets attack coach Mark Jones - who was brought up nearby in Builth Wells - and included new signings Gareth Owen and Kristian Phillips plus newly-appointed Scarlets captain Rob McCusker and players Tavis Knoyle, Peter Edwards, Gareth Davies, Emyr Phillips, Dan Newton and Aled Davies.

Daioni, which is produced in Pembrokeshire by family-run company Trioni Ltd, has re-styled its branding and signed a sponsorship deal with The Scarlets.

"Daioni is a healthy and nutritional alternative to fizzy drinks so we are delighted to help the Scarlets spread the healthy living message," said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"Daioni has several top sporting organisations and clubs among its fans including the Welsh Rugby Union, and Chelsea, West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur football clubs.

"With an increasing amount of research into milk as a recovery and re-hydration aid for athletes, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting milk may be just as effective in these areas as some sports drinks."          

Plans for helping solve Wales' mobile broadband "notspots" were outlined during the Royal Welsh Show today when the Farmers' Union of Wales and Ofcom held wide-ranging talks with farmers and representatives from the communications industry.

The theme of the meeting was "Connecting Rural Wales - 4G Mobile Broadband and the Mobile Infrastructure Project" and the Llanelwedd venue was an ideal place to discuss mobile coverage issues in Wales, said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"We are pleased to work in collaboration with Ofcom to show how the rollout of 4G services and the UK Government’s Mobile Infrastructure Project will bring significant benefits to consumers and businesses in rural areas of Wales.”

Demand for mobile data in Western Europe - estimated to increase by more than 500 per cent over the next five years - is being fuelled by smartphones and mobile broadband data services such as video streaming, email, messenger services, online mapping and social networking.

As the UK switches from analogue to digital TV, new spectrum capacity has become available to meet this demand.

Ofcom’s Wales director Elinor Williams said: “Our recent announcement on the combined spectrum auction will bring significant benefits to citizens and consumers in rural Wales.

“The auction is a crucial step in preparing for 4G mobile services and it is of significant importance to the Welsh economy.

“It will support a wide range of data services rapidly becoming essential features of modern life in rural Wales.”

Ofcom hopes 98% of the UK will have 4G coverage by 2017.

The meeting’s facilitator, FUW director of agricultural policy Nick Fenwick, said the introduction of 4G would be hugely beneficial to farmers.

Mr Fenwick - who grew up on a hill farm in Llanbrynmair, near Machynlleth, with poor mobile coverage - added: "The farming industry, in increasing numbers, is reliant on smart phone technology such as apps.

"It's second nature for the up-and-coming younger generation to use their phones in innovative ways.”