If you or someone you know, under the age of 40, is running a rural business in Pembrokeshire, if you farm in your own right or provide a service to the agricultural sector, run a cake making business, electrical or plumbing services, crafts, music teaching or food processing, then the FUW Countryside Business Award could be just the thing for you.

To be eligible for the award the individual must be 40 years of age or under on 1 January 2019 and be actively involved in a business based in rural Pembrokeshire. The deadline for entries is Friday 31 May 2019.

A £200 cash prize, perpetual trophy and a year’s free membership will be awarded to the winner.

“There are a host of fantastic businesses in rural Pembrokeshire who all do a great job in keeping the wheel of our rural economy turning. With the award we want to recognise the fantastic work our young people do to keep the rural areas of Pembrokeshire vibrant and economically active places.

The Farmers' Union of Wales has written to the UK Treasury asking for clarification after the UK Government published no-deal Brexit proposals which appear to fly in the face of World Trade Organisation rules.

According to the UK Government's website, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, tariffs and Tariff Rate Quotas would apply to a range of products, but "...The UK’s temporary import tariffs will...not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland."

Speaking after a meeting of Committee Chairs and Vice Presidents, FUW Head of Policy Nick Fenwick said: "Press reports that tariffs would be charged for a variety of imported goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit except those crossing from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland have caused all sorts of confusion, and were assumed to be down to a misinterpretation by reporters.

"However, the Government website states clearly that this would be the case."

Dr Fenwick said that this appeared to fly in the face of World Trade Organisation and EU rules.

"If the Government said it was going to apply tariffs to all imports except those entering the UK from Germany, without any form of trade deal in place, this would clearly be a breach of WTO rules. It would also go against the rules of the EU because Germany is in the Single Market.

The FUW Milk and Dairy Produce Committee has described Welsh Government plans to introduce a pan-Wales ‘NVZ’ type regulations as disastrous for the sector, especially in light of Brexit uncertainty.

Speaking after the meeting on Thursday (March 14 ), FUW Milk and Dairy Produce Committee chairman Dai Miles said: “We have considered the plans in detail, and delegates are outraged that the Welsh Government want to introduce such reems of restrictions, rules and paperwork.

“These plans will affect farms, especially the smaller family farms, who carry out good practise and will incur extra cost through no fault of their own. It is painting the whole industry with the same brush when actually there is only a small minority at fault.”

Mr Miles said that as farmers were becoming increasingly aware of the plans, anger was rising within the industry that such a draconian approach was even being considered, especially at a time when all the figures suggest Wales’ agriculture industry could be the worst affected by Brexit.

“The fact that such a draconian blanket approach is being planned goes against the Welsh Government's commitment in December 2017 to strike ‘the right balance of comprehensive regulatory measures, voluntary measures and investment’ and ‘...explore further options to provide land managers with flexibility, where these would achieve the same or better outcomes than a regulatory approach,” he said.

The 2018 European Union (Withdrawal) Act must be amended to allow the revocation of Article 50 in order to reflect Parliament’s rejection of a no-deal Brexit , the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) has said.

Speaking after a no-deal Brexit contingency planning meeting with Welsh Government officials, FUW Head of Policy Nick Fenwick said: “The FUW has argued for Article 50 to be revoked to allow time for an orderly Brexit since mid January.

“Now that Parliament has rejected leaving the EU without a deal, the relevant legislation must be amended to reflect this view and cater for all possible eventualities - including needing to revoke Article 50 in order to respect the view of Parliament.”

Dr Fenwick said that the 29th March 2019 deadline in the legislation should be removed, and that merely replacing it with another ‘cliff edge date’ in a few months time would be short sighted and not reflect the dangers.

“So long as the Withdrawal Act stands we are set to leave the European Union, so claims that this would go against the vote to leave the EU are false.

“Those who have persuaded the general public that the Brexit process that can be gone through in a couple of years without major risks to jobs, businesses and the economy have been unrealistic and misled Brexiteers about the reality of a safe timetable.

“We now need the Act to be amended to restore us to a realistic and safe timetable,” he added.