Young farmer Neil Perkins' decision to convert his family's beef and sheep farm to a low-cost sheep business financially successful in an environment without subsidies has helped him reap the Farmers' Union of Wales Pembrokeshire branch's Countryside Award.

One of the judges, FUW county president Dafydd Williams, said: "The winner demonstrated a clear vision of what he wished to do following a visit to New Zealand on a Nuffield scholarship. His father agreed and their plan was supported by their landlords, the National Trust."

Mr Perkins, 30, of Dinas Island Farm, Newport, Pembrokeshire, said: "Farming has always been a passion of mine and an industry I have always wanted to be involved with. Having grown up helping my father on the farm I then went to study agriculture at the Welsh Agricultural College in Aberystwyth.

"After a couple of years there I returned home to work on the farm full time. I then wanted to take the business a step forward which gave me the incentive to apply for a Nuffield farming scholarship with the intention of bringing the farm into the modern era of agriculture.

"My aim is to produce lamb profitably off a low input grass-based system without subsidies and be able to market the lambs on the back of this."

Mr Williams agreed that Mr Perkins has a clear understanding of the industry as it moves into a period of much lower financial support from Government. "He is convinced that finance for business investment should be generated by the business in advance of expenditure and that current surpluses resulting from the Single Farm Payment should be invested elsewhere.

"He is also strongly committed to disseminating the information he acquired in New Zealand and showing how it can be practiced in Wales."

Mr Perkins was nominated for the Countryside Award by Future Farmers of Wales (FFW) chairman Rhys Lougher who stated: "Neil is an outstanding example of a professional young farmer.

"He has taken time away from the business to study agriculture through college and more recently on global travel through the Nuffield Scholarship. He has transferred this new knowledge back into practical ways of improving his family farm.

"Dinas Island farm is now well noted for the quality of the sheep stock and its high standards of grassland management. Neil also plays a key role in the wider agricultural community of West Wales and in developing other young farmers through his work and involvement in the Future Farmers of Wales Club of which he will be chairman for 2011/2012."

Mr Perkins, who became director of the family farm business in 2002, is married to Lynda and they have three children Osian (7), Chloe (6) and Sion (2). In 2005 he was a finalist in the Lantra land-based learner of the year competition and a finalist in last year's Hybu Cig Cymru - Meat Promotion Wales "Face of Welsh Lamb" competition.

He will be presented with the award, £100 and one year's free membership of the FUW in the Grand Arena at the Pembrokeshire County Show at 2.15pm on Tuesday, August 17.

Narberth community primary school pupils have swept the board in a Farmers' Union of Wales competition based on farming which was held for schools in Pembrokeshire.

The winners of the three categories and their school will be presented with their prizes at noon on Wednesday August 18 in the FUW marquee (stand number B36) during the Pembrokeshire County Show.

The competition, launched in June when the FUW's Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Williams wrote to all schools in the county, attracted 277 entries and was sponsored by Carmarthen & Pumsaint Farmers' Ltd, J E Lawrence & Son Ltd and the county's FUW 200+ Club.

Category 1 was won by Gwenllian Evans for her hand drawing of a farm scene; Category 2 was won by Anna Phillips and Sali Lewis who submitted a joint entry of a model of a sheep and the winner of Category 3 was Finley Griffiths for his poem entitled "The Farm".

FUW county chairman Dai Miles, who was also one of the judges, said: "All the judges were very impressed with the high standard of entries in all three categories of the competition and we had a very difficult task in choosing the winners."

The winner of each category will receive a £10 gift voucher and a goody bag for themselves, with a cheque for £30, together with £40 worth of Carmarthen & Pumsaint Farmers' Ltd vouchers, being presented to their school for use in developing their school garden.

The head teacher of Narberth CP School Edna Davies, who will be attending the presentation of prizes, was thrilled with her winning pupils and all of those who had taken part. She said the competition had fitted in well with a project which the school had been undertaking about farming during the last school year.

The winning entries and all of the other entries will be on display at the FUW marquee throughout the show.

A West Wales farmer today called for Chinese lanterns to be banned after a total of 10 fell on his fields on three separate occasions over the past three months.

Former Farmers' Union of Wales Pembrokeshire county chairman Griff Owen said six lanterns came down together in grazing fields on his farm alongside the Cleddau estuary at Oxland Lane, Burton, near Milford Haven, in May. Two more were discovered about three weeks ago and the remaining two the weekend before last.

"The first six were the most dangerous threat to livestock because the main frame was made up of a circular piece of thickish wire, to which the paper canopy was attached, and the candle wick was held by a criss-cross of thinner wire. Had they landed some 20 to 30 yards further away they would have been in silage fields.

"They could have then been picked up by the forage harvester and come the winter months we would have found wire inside our cows' stomachs. This type of lantern is the worst.

"The second lot we found had a circular wooden frame but it still had a criss-cross of thin wire holding the candle wick and the most recent lot were the environmental-friendly type with a wooden frame and thick cotton holding the wick.

"We have no idea who launched them as all three lots came from different directions. I think they should all be banned - even the so-called environment-friendly ones because they are not completely safe. I spotted the cows, who are pretty inquisitive, licking the last two to come down and who knows what problems they could suffer as a result.

"Consumers are always talking about the maintaining the welfare of livestock and then they let these things go up and, inevitably, they come back down on to our farmland."

The FUW has carried out an all-Wales survey of the problems created by Chinese lanterns and received reports of similar incidents in Flintshire, Glamorganshire and Carmarthenshire.

FUW's Glamorganshire county executive officer Adrian Evans said the son of a member was checking livestock at about 10pm one evening when he discovered a Chinese lantern had landed in a barn.

"It could very well have set the barn and it contents of hay and straw on fire as the lantern was still smouldering," Mr Evans added.

For sale on the internet for as little as £1.99 each, Chinese lanterns can fly for up to 20 minutes and rise over a mile into the sky. Traditionally flown during Chinese and Thai celebrations, they have been used for nearly 2,000 years.

[caption id="attachment_4851" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Gareth Vaughan and Elin Jones during her visit to his farm.[/caption]

Following intensive lobbying an 11th hour addition of a new eligibility option for maintaining existing fences on stock-excluded woodland in the National Assembly's Glastir scheme underlines the Farmers' Union of Wales arguments for a delay in the scheme's introduction, a union leader said today.

"With just three months to go before the November 1 closing date for Glastir applications, the addition of this new option, whilst welcome, proves that our calls for a delay are completely justified as farmers are still struggling with the complexities of the scheme," said the chairman of the union's land use committee Richard Vaughan.

"The FUW has consistently argued that fenced off woodland should be an inherent part of the scheme but it has taken a long time for the Assembly to put this in place and we are concerned that these last minute changes are adding to the confusion amongst farmers.

"This confirms our prolonged concerns that the scheme has been too hastily devised with insufficient thought put into how practical it would be for farmers.

"We now find ourselves in a position where we have been lobbying hard for these new options whilst remaining frustrated at the time it has taken for the Assembly to adopt the suggestions which will help make the scheme more accessible for farmers," said Mr Vaughan.

The union's concerns were reiterated during its annual general meeting, which was addressed by rural affairs minister Elin Jones, and during her recent visit to FUW president Gareth Vaughan's farm at Dolfor, near Newtown.

"Each of the scheme's options has been allocated a set number of points for various land management projects and to exclude woodland from the All-Wales element of Glastir, despite it being an important feature of previous schemes, was baffling. For many farms, dairy in particular, the omission could have meant exclusion from the scheme," said Mr Vaughan.

"We now welcome the belated acceptance of our demand as a positive step forward but regrettably many issues about the scheme still remain of concern to our members," he added.

The aims of Option 40 are to encourage the continued growth of trees and shrubs to maintain the fabric of the woodland; and to enhance the character of the landscape.

Management requirements include:

This option is available on single blocks of existing broadleaved/conifer woodland with a minimum area of 0.5ha as defined on the National Forestry Index irrespective of whether they have been fenced under a previous scheme.

Any woodland entered into a current Tir Gofal, Improved Land Premium, Woodland Grant Scheme, Better Woodlands For Wales, Farm Woodland Premium Scheme and Farm Woodland scheme is not eligible for this option.

The existing fence must be maintained to exclude stock for the lifetime of the contract. If no existing fence is present it is acceptable to erect a new fence to ensure the area is stock excluded. (Points available for this option are for the maintenance of an existing fence only - existing from the start date of AWE Glastir contract)

Stock must be excluded at all times.

The woodland must not be used for supplementary feeding.

The rules for habitat under the Whole Farm Code will apply to the woodland entered into this option.