Anglesey farmer Dafydd Roberts has been elected as the new chairman of the Farmers' Union of Wales's influential livestock, wool and marts committee.

Mr Roberts, a past county chairman and county president of the union's Anglesey branch, farms around 300 acres at Tryfil Uchaf, Llandrygan, Llanerchymedd.

Together with his wife Cadi, a retired teacher, he runs a flock of 500 Suffolk cross and half-bred sheep and 100 Friesian beef cattle.

Mr Roberts, who was born on the farm in 1945 and has lived there ever since, studied agriculture at the former Coleg Pencraig at Llangefni. He has four children and nine grandchildren.

He said: "It is a great honour for me to be elected as chairman of this important committee and I look forward to continuing the good work the previous chairman, Aeron Prysor Jones, has done for the union and its members."

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is kick-starting the fundraising events planned for its president’s chosen charity - Cancer Research Wales - with a memory walk on a Ceredigion farm on Saturday November 5.

FUW members and members of the public are invited to take part in the three-mile walk at Morfa Farm, Llanrhystud, starting at 1.30pm.

“This is our first fundraising event and I am looking forward to welcoming family and friends of the union and others wanting to raise money for the charity,” said FUW president Emyr Jones.

“Cancer Research Wales relies on volunteers and fundraisers to help pay for vital research projects and all the money raised will help in the fight against cancer, here in Wales. This is why we are asking participants to raise a minimum of £5 for the charity on this occasion.

“At the end of the walk we will be lighting a candle in memory of those who have lost the fight against cancer,” added Mr Jones.

The charity is currently funding a ground-breaking project looking at ways to stop breast and prostate tumours - the two most common cancers affecting men and women in Wales - spreading to other parts of the body.

Based at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, the charity supports projects across Wales.

For further information contact Anne Birkett on 01970 820820 or by e-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has launched a ready reckoner application on its website - www.fuw.org.uk - which allows Welsh farmers to calculate what their future direct payments could look like under two different flat-rate payment models.

FUW director of agricultural policy Nick Fenwick said today: "There is a huge amount of uncertainty regarding what payments will actually look like in Wales in the future but we do know that from 2014 we will be moving towards a flat rate payment system where every farmer in a region is likely to get the same payment per hectare."

Dr Fenwick said one of the critical questions would be how regions within Wales, and the payments per hectare in those regions, were defined.

"We currently have no way of knowing what model and payment rates we will end up with in Wales but this application at least gives an indication of what would happen in two possible scenarios."

The application allows farmers to input how much land they have and calculate what their payments could be after a transition period under two possible flat-rate payment models.

The first model assumes every farm in Wales would receive the same payment per hectare while the second is based upon differing payment rates for Severely Disadvantaged, Disadvantaged, non-LFA and common land.

The rates for the four different land categories are based upon Welsh averages.

Dr Fenwick warned that there was likely to be significant disruption and redistribution of funds irrespective of what final model was chosen.

"We know from the experience in England that an element of redistribution of funds is inevitable and that there will be big winners and losers.

"Our priority since we conducted our initial detailed analysis in 2009 has been to ensure we have as many facts as figures at our disposal so Wales can choose a model which minimises disruption for the industry.

"While this tool cannot predict actual future payments on farms, it can certainly give farmers an insight into what payments could look like after a transition to two different payment models."

The Farmers' Union of Wales today expressed concern over continued moves by UK Government to abolish the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) as part of the Public Bodies Bill - due to be debated in the House of Commons next Tuesday (October 25).

"The Union has always supported the AWB and remains concerned that unless there are systems in place to protect payments to agricultural workers, the industry will not attract the highly skilled individuals it needs to thrive," said the union's deputy director of agricultural policy Rhian Nowell-Phillips.

The Union has made representations to the Government's in Cardiff and Westminster highlighting that the AWB is still considered to be the most effective body to determine the pay and conditions of workers in a way which reflects the unique requirements of the agricultural industry in Wales.

"As many farms in Wales run with relatively few staff, the AWB is considered an important means of avoiding potential conflict and lengthy negotiations with individual staff," said Ms Nowell-Phillips.

The FUW strongly believes the AWB's role in setting minimum rates of pay can reflect the need for agricultural workers to be flexible in their working arrangements to cover busy periods, fine weather, and unsocial hours, which are not covered by general employment law provision.

"The economic climate within the agricultural industry has made it a less attractive option for young people, and rewarding skills, qualifications, and levels of responsibility is a vital means of persuading high calibre people to remain or enter into the industry.

"Reliance on a single national minimum wage will inevitably result in an erosion of talent and skills from farming as more lucrative and physically less challenging professions are taken up.

"The Union believes that there needs to be arrangements put in place to deal with enhanced terms and conditions which reflect the dedication of agricultural workers," Ms Nowell-Phillips added.