[caption id="attachment_4624" align="aligncenter" width="240"] Emyr Jones[/caption]

In wishing each one of you a prosperous 2012, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support during my first six months as President.

It is a massive honour to have been appointed President of a union whose principles have always mirrored my own, and to have the opportunity to fight for an industry which is so important to each one of us.

It is natural at this time of year to look back on the previous 12 months and wonder what will change over the coming year.

On a positive note, farmers can be thankful for prices which are so much closer to what they should be compared with the average over past decade.

However, as any business knows, better prices alone do not equal better profit and rises in production costs have severely undermined margins across the industry, leaving the vast majority still completely reliant on CAP payments.

With the Euro-Sterling exchange rate being a main factor in maintaining livestock prices, how the Eurozone crisis will develop over the coming months is a major concern which is beyond our control in terms of receipts from the marketplace.

However, input costs are something which we do have a little more control over and, for many of us, simply assessing where we currently stand in terms of precise input costs would be a major step forward.

Those who have undertaken such assessments and have not identified at least some room for improvement - however small - are few and far between. Therefore, I believe that, in 2012 and beyond, properly assessing such costs must be an increasing focus for the industry and one for which we must take responsibility ourselves.

In this context, I believe that there is much that many livestock farmers can learn from the dairy sector which, despite recent improvements, continues to suffer from farmgate prices which do not reflect input costs and a fair standard of living.

These are issues which the FUW will continue to target over the coming year as well as tackling the numerous disappointing developments which have emerged over the past 12 months - the decision to downgrade the Welsh Government's rural affairs department and devolve animal health to another ministerial portfolio; the complete abandonment of recognition of Wales' LFA areas; and the decision to delay an announcement on the north Pembrokeshire badger cull pending a pointless review of the science, to name just a few.

Sadly, these decisions have been made in spite of the hard work of the FUW which has continually been at the forefront of the fight for what is best for Welsh agriculture, work which will continue in 2012 and beyond.

However, compared with previous years, a new focus has emerged in the form of the imminent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and the need to influence developments at every stage in the negotiation process.

Over the past year we have attended countless meetings with politicians and civil servants both in Wales and in Europe in order to shape thinking over the future of the CAP and it was therefore gratifying to hear George Lyon MEP stating at our autumn conference that the FUW had already been instrumental in changing the shape of the Regulations in a way which is positive for Wales.

While such changes must be welcomed, our work in influencing thinking at an EU level has only just begun and must continue and accelerate in 2012 if we are to further shape the policy in a way which does not displace genuine farmers and undermine food production at a time when severe global food shortages and starvation are imminent.

To this end it is essential that the EU recognises the massive damage that their current proposals will cause, not least due to the proposed introduction of greening measures into Pillar 1, and the dire implications of abandoning our current entitlements and recreating them on the basis of areas declared in 2014.

To put it bluntly, the current proposals do nothing which is in line with the key priorities identified by the European Commission and Parliament and to top it all will be an administrative nightmare for the Welsh Government.

While there is much we can and will fight to change in terms of the future CAP - including lobbying our own Welsh MEPs, who now have co-decision making powers - it is certainly inevitable that some form of flat-rate single payment will be introduced over a transition period after 2013.

Since 2009, a priority for the FUW has been to allow the industry to assess the possible impacts of various different payment models, both by producing our own modelling data and lobbying Government to do the same.

It is only with this information that the industry will be able to properly assess what is likely to be best for Wales and we are committed to ensuring efforts are stepped up to produce as much information as possible in 2012 so farmers can judge the impacts of various systems and make their own minds up as to what is best.

While dealing with this, and the diverse range of other issues which impact on members, will continue to be central to the union's work, a priority which is second to none is the essential services we provide to members on a day-to-day basis, through our network of county Offices.

Whether it is overarching issues which relate to European or domestic policies and problems, or the huge volumes of unique cases dealt with on behalf of members by our county office staff, the FUW will continue to do all it can in 2012 to fight for the interests of members.

Without the dedication of staff and FUW committee members at every level that work would be impossible and I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have worked so hard over the past year to further the interests of FUW members and Welsh agriculture and wish you all the best for the coming year.

An increasing number of second homes in Wales are being used as holiday accommodation in a trend which fails to meet strict quality criteria and poses a threat to Wales' pristine image as a top tourist destination, the Farmers' Union of Wales warned today.

"We have made representations to Edwina Hart AM , the minister for business, enterprise, technology and science, to voice our concerns as a union over the increasing number of second homes in Wales which are unregistered and do not meet the stringent legislative and quality criteria adopted by legitimate operators," said FUW farm diversification committee chairperson Deilwen Breese.

"Many registered accommodation operators are concerned that the growing trend to advertise homes as holiday lets, or even gardens to pitch tents, presents unknown standards to visitors and may put legitimate tourism businesses at a competitive disadvantage in terms of business rates, compliance with safety certificates and grading fees etc."

The FUW has a long-standing policy which would require all holiday accommodation in Wales to be registered, in order to ensure that visitors enjoy a safe, high quality experience whilst operators are able to compete on a level playing field in terms of business overheads.

"The union has previously been in discussion with the Welsh Government over this issue and contributed to the Welsh Tourist Board's report on the Statutory Registration of Tourist Accommodation in Wales which considered the steps necessary to implement such an approach in Wales.

"Given the concerns raised by members, the union believes that consideration should be given to revisiting the WTB report with a view to introducing some form of compulsory registration in order to maintain and enhance tourism provision in Wales," added Mrs Breese.

Following months of lobbying by the Farmers’ Union of Wales, significant changes have been made to the Tourism Investment Support Scheme, which will now allow small and medium businesses to benefit from Welsh Government support to upgrade their facilities.

The new initiative ‘Building for 2012’, is intended to provide small and medium sized Welsh tourism business the opportunity to apply for between £5,000 and £25,000 of grant aid, up to a maximum of 40 per cent of eligible upgrading costs, allowing businesses to upgrade the quality of their facilities irrespective of business size, number of units, bedrooms or visitors.

Welcoming the announcement, FUW farm diversification chairperson Deilwen Breese said the union had been lobbying hard to improve the support available within the Tourism Investment Support Scheme, for smaller farm-based tourism enterprises.

“Farm diversification provides an important second income for many farming families in Wales which is why the new initiative is a welcome move. However this opportunity is time limited and all applications have to be made by March 31 2012,” added Mrs Breese.

“Small, tourism businesses in Wales need help to invest and upgrade their facilities, particularly in the current economic climate. The ‘Building for 2012’ project means that, businesses of all sizes will now have the chance to make vital improvements.”

The Farmers' Union of Wales urged the Welsh Government to forge ahead with plans to tackle the disease in north Pembrokeshire after welcoming today's Defra announcement to carry out controlled culling of badgers in two areas of England.

Westminster environment secretary Caroline Spelman revealed the devastating problems caused by bovine TB are to be tackled by a package of measures which include controlled culling of badgers as part of a science-led and carefully managed badger control policy.

She confirmed that policy is expected to be piloted initially in two areas in early Autumn next year. Both pilots, carried out over a period of six weeks, will be closely managed and monitored to examine how safe, effective and humane a method this is.

An independent panel of experts will be asked to oversee and evaluate the pilots and report to Ministers before a decision is made on whether to roll out the policy more widely.

FUW bovine TB spokesman Brian Walters said: "For years Wales was well ahead of England in terms of implementing an holistic approach to tackling bovine TB on all fronts but the Welsh Government's decision to place plans on hold, pending a review of the science which had already been done, has led to a massive loss of momentum and now leaves Wales well behind England.

"The English and Welsh proposals are very different and, given the hard work which has been put into the Welsh plan, it is essential we forge ahead with our own programme rather than procrastinate.

"The free shooting approach which is to be investigated by Defra has been advocated by bodies such as the RSPCA as a humane approach to pest control, so those bodies which now raise concerns regarding Defra's plans are being extremely disingenuous."

Mr Walters' comments echoed demands made earlier this week by FUW president Emyr Jones who also accused the Welsh Government of betraying Welsh farmers by continuing to delay a decision on a badger cull in West Wales.

Mr Jones wrote to Assembly environment and sustainable development minister John Griffiths expressing "extreme dismay" that the decision - originally expected early last autumn - is now being delayed until the New Year.

"These continued delays are a betrayal of the Welsh farming industry's commitment to a holistic approach to controlling bovine TB," said Mr Jones.

Mr Walters added: "The confidence of the farming industry in the Welsh bTB eradication programme is falling away rapidly, and those burdened with the extra costs of cattle controls feel betrayed by the failure to take action against the massive disease reservoir which exists in badgers and is infecting cattle on a daily basis.

"The only way to regain that confidence is for Wales to forge ahead with its original plans to cull badgers in north Pembrokeshire, which all the science shows will significantly reduce bovine TB incidences in the area."