The Farmers’ Union of Wales is encouraging farmers in Wales to get behind the Big Farmland Bird Count 2021, by spending 30 minutes recording the farmland birds they see on their land. The annual UK wide count, run by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is scheduled for the 5 – 14 February 2021.

To help farmers understand what’s involved, the Union is hosting a joint webinar with the GWCT on Monday, 1 February, at 7pm via Zoom. The webinar is free and open to all and will hear from FUW President Glyn Roberts, FUW member John Yeomans  and Matthew Goodall and Lee Oliver from the GWCT, who will be discussing the birds that we might see and suggest some ideas on what can happen on farms to encourage more bird activity. 

Sheep and goat keepers in Wales are being reminded to submit their annual inventory form by Monday 1 February, to avoid potential penalties. The form can be submitted by either logging onto the EID Cymru website (www.eidcymru.org), or by returning the paper form in the post.

FUW Pembrokeshire County Executive Officer Rebecca Voyle said: “The annual inventory of sheep and goats is a legal requirement and it is vital that farmers record all the sheep and goats that they are the registered keeper of, by CPH location, on 1 January 2021. 

“The number of sheep/goats  declared must include breeding sheep, rams, ram lambs, store and finished lambs, cull ewes/rams, goats and any other sheep. It is important that farmers do this to avoid a potential cross-compliance penalty and an increased likelihood of an inspection.”

If you require any assistance, contact the EIDCymru service helpline 01970 636959, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or your local FUW county office.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is urging members to report all incidents of livestock attacks to the police to ensure that the right actions can be taken.

FUW Deputy President Ian Rickman said: “Avoidable losses, such as those that occur when a dog chases or attacks livestock, remain a significant source of frustration for the livestock sector in Wales. 

“Industry initiatives, such as the FUW campaign “Your dog, Your responsibility” which widened the message to respecting the countryside, picking up after your dog, keeping dogs on a lead near livestock and making sure dogs don’t escape from home, have had some impact but sadly we keep hearing about more incidents recently.”

If you need advice on pre-planning applications, reviewing constraints, project viability, and master-planning, then our new partnership with RML Consultants might be just the professional helping hand you need. The FUW is therefore excited to announce our new partner contract with the company who will deliver town and country planning services for members predominantly in North Wales. 

RML was established by Managing Director Ivor Richards OBE, in 1984, to provide multi-disciplined engineering, landscape and environmental consultancy.  Originally specialising in brownfield remediation, the company gained a reputation for high-quality design in sensitive landscapes and for applying the principles of ‘working with nature’.  RML has published national guidance documents based on decades of experience and technical expertise.