[caption id="attachment_5739" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Farming champion winner Aled Rees with Lucy Morris, head of the commercial and agricultural property team from sponsor Redkite Solicitors[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5740" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Aled Rees with his wife Hedydd at the Carmarthen Journal Community awards[/caption]

Many farmers will remember the winter of 2013-2014 as one of the most disastrous in recent years and especially those in Somerset who witnessed their land being under water for long periods.

Homes were evacuated, the farming community was in dismay over the relentless bad weather and villages were isolated for months.

The scenes of utter despair as farmers battled the significant cost of having 11,500 hectares (28,420 acres) inundated by about 65 million cubic metres of water, struck a chord with Ceredigion farmer Aled Rees.

Mr Rees, who runs a 150-acre organic dairy farm at Trefere Fawr, Penparc Cardigan and also farms a further 700 acres of organic beef, sheep and arable along with the dairy unit, remembered the kindness shown to Welsh hill farmers by Lincolnshire farmer Andrew Ward, who founded Fodder Aid, and launched a system of emergency hay supplies when the snow in Spring 2013 brought sheep farmers to their knees as they faced one of the worst crises in 60 years.

Aled took the leading role to pucker-up support for Somerset farmers in gathering fodder, knowing how vital this sort of help was for the snow struck Welsh hill farmers barely a year earlier.

In recognition of his efforts, Mr Rees was awarded with the coveted Carmarthen Journal Community awards and named as this year’s Farming Champion. 

Speaking about his achievements, former FUW Ceredigion county executive officer Caryl Roberts, said: “Aled has been relentless in his efforts to support flood stricken farmers in Somerset and has been at the forefront leading the call for Welsh farmers to donate forage for Somerset farmers.

“He succeeded in uniting farmers, agri business and the general public to help the plight of desperate farmers and thanks to him not only 20 lorry loads of forage were sent in aid but he also raised £1,755 for the cause. I congratulate him whole-heartedly on his award, which could not have gone to a more deserving person.”

Journal editor Emma Bryant said: “It was great to see Aled’s efforts for the farmers in Somerset recognised at our awards. He is the epitome of everything a Farming Champion should be. Huge congratulations to Aled and we really hope he enjoyed his big moment! “

[caption id="attachment_5733" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW Montgomeryshire members enjoy a wonderful afternoon at Neuadd Fach Baconry[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5734" align="aligncenter" width="225"] FUW Montgomeryshire county executive officer Emyr Wyn Davies, FUW president Glyn Roberts, Ithyl Brown, FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams and Lynda Brown sample some of the wonderful pork products[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5735" align="aligncenter" width="225"] In the baconry are Lynda Brown and FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams[/caption]

Often we hear that small family farms are the backbone of rural Wales and that it is down to their grit, determination and passion for Welsh produce that our rural economy is sustained.

A true example of this is the 35acre smallholding Neuadd Fach about a mile outside of the quiet village of Llandinam alongside the A470 in Montgomery.

Home to Lynda and Ithyl Brown, the holding has established itself as a well-known producer of pork products that have been recognised with over 30 Great Taste awards.

Back in 1979 the farm supported a dairy herd and in 1982 sheep were added. Due to financial pressure the couple recognised the need to diversify and in 1986 a brand new building was put up to 'loose house' the new herd of pigs.

Ithyl Brown, a native of Caersws, bought the smallholding in 1963 and Lynda, who was brought up in Uxbridge in Middlesex, came to live at Neuadd Fach with her sons David and Philip, when she married Ithyl in 1979.

Lynda tells of their initial struggles in the 1980s when interest rates were well into the double figures: “We had to pay an incredible amount of interest on the loan we had taken out to establish the pig herd and just keeping up with those payments meant finding over £10,000 a year for interest repayments. I am not sure how we kept the farm going but we persevered knowing that we had a great product to sell. Losing the farm was not an option.”

With the collapse of the pig market in 1998, the couple were losing £10 a pig and were in real danger of losing the farm for sure this time round. A year later a ray of hope was offered in form of an approved bank loan to build the baconry, so that Lynda and Ithyl could process their pigs into Bacon, Gammon and other pork products.

“The baconry was opened in October 1999, by our local MP Lembit Opik. We processed 2 pigs a week to start and employed 2 part-time people. Today we have 5 people working part time for us, and process 10 pigs a week,” Lynda said.

Since then the business has gone from to strength to strength, with 31 Great Taste awards under their belt and a loyal customer base throughout Montgomeryshire.

The couple have won Gold Awards for their products in the Great Taste Awards over the years, culminating in the Best Speciality in Wales for their Back Bacon in 2006 - in fact Neuadd Fach bacon was the best bacon sample out of 129 entries nationwide in that year.

“We aim to provide the best tasting products by attention to detail. Our pigs are fed a ration that is mixed on the farm ensuring a superb carcass to start with.

“Our carcasses are hung for 5 days before they are processed and we measure the cure for our bacon and gammon very accurately to ensure a consistent product.

“Our curing takes 10 days, and then we slice and package very carefully to ensure the product looks good. The proof of our care is in the eating. The 'Taste' is paramount to us, and many people say that once you taste our bacon you don't want anyone else's.  We weren’t butchers to start with but we learned our way and as they say the proof is in the pudding now,” Lynda added.

“Walking around the smallholding you can’t miss the shear passion and determination Lynda and Ithyl bring to the table in everything they do and you can taste that in their produce. It is a fantastic business and they are a credit to the farming community. I would like to thank them for showing us around the business and for letting us have a taste of their award winning produce,” said FUW president Glyn Roberts following a recent visit to the baconry.

Neuadd Fach products can be purchased at Abermule Post Office & Stores, Beguildy Post Office & Stores, Berriew Spar Shop& Post Office, Caersws Spar Shop, Carno Spar shop & Post Office, Cemmaes Road Post Office & Stores, Chirbury Post Office & Stores, Churchstoke, Harry Tuffins, Guilsfield, Derwen Farm Shop, Kerry Post Office & Stores, Knighton, Harry Tuffins, Llanbadarn  Fynydd  Village Community Shop, Llandrinio-  Lewis's  Post Office, Stores & Garage, Llangurig Post Office & Stores, Llanidloes, 1. Darren Tonks Fruit & Veg    2.  Bradleys Garage Shop; Machynlleth, Harry Tuffins, Montgomery , Castle Kitchens, Newtown, Andy & Adam’s village shop in Corris, Staylittle Shop and Tregynon Post Office & Stores.

The couple also sell their produce at Bishop's Castle Farmers Market, via their website www.baconry.co.uk and by telephone order on 01686 688734.

[caption id="attachment_5727" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones, FUW vice president Richard Vaughan, Alun Fred Jones AM, who chairs the Environment and Sustainability committee at the Welsh Assembly, FWAG Cymru chairman Tegwyn Jones, operations director at FWAG Cymru Glenda Thomas, FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Euros Puw and FUW director of policy Nick Fenwick.[/caption]

The Meirionnydd branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales organised a farm visit at Castell Hen, Parc near Bala, to discuss renewable energy schemes, Glastir, open access to the country side and a variety of other agricultural policies.

In conjunction with FWAG Cymru, Dolgellau - FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Euros Puw and his wife Haf opened the gates to their farm for visitors to see the land, stock and the hydroelectric scheme which serves the electricity requirements of the farm.

“This was an ideal opportunity for visitors to discuss the latest agricultural policies and see how the family at Castell Hen are pioneers in renewable energy,” said FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

“We further discussed how disappointing the sudden changes to the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) process are, and the effects of predicted future cuts on all sectors involved in hydropower.”

Castell Hen is situated at approx. 2 miles from the village of Parc near Bala and the family farm extends to 740 acres, together with grazing rights on nearby common land.

The majority is mountain land with approx. 25 acres kept annually for silage making, 60 acres improved grazing land, and 100 acres of semi improved ‘ffridd’.

High quality stock are kept, which includes 650 Welsh mountain ewes, 240 of which are crossed with Texel rams every year, with the remainder purebred.  There is also a herd of 19 Limousin cows.  Calves are sold as store between 17-23 months at the livestock market in Dolgellau.

Discussing the current Welsh Government consultation on open access to the countryside, FUW director of policy Dr Nick Fenwick told visitors to the event that:  “The FUW supports responsible access to Wales’ countryside and understands the important role access plays in terms of health and wellbeing as well as Wales’ economy.

As a union, he said, we fully support any reduction in the cost and time associated with extinguishing or moving public rights of way, but object to any increase in public access to the countryside.

Wales has approximately 16,200 miles of footpaths, 3100 miles of bridle-paths, and 1200 miles of byways. Since 1998 the area of land accessible by right to the public has increased three-fold, National Trails have been created and extended, and 4,700 miles of rights of way have been opened up under improvement plans.

“Despite this, the proportion of Welsh residents undertaking outdoor recreation frequently has not altered to any extent. The FUW therefore does not believe there is evidence that further liberalising access will achieve the objectives of improving responsible access, health and wellbeing.

“However, such moves will inevitably increase existing problems in terms of irresponsible access, damage to crops and animals, costs for farmers and tenants and the further erosion of the rights of owners, occupiers and other right-holders,” added Dr Fenwick.

Delegates heard Dr Fenwick explain that ordnance survey maps and other sources available free of charge to the general public clearly show open-access areas and rights of way, as do signs on footpaths throughout Wales, yet even when clearly signposted and close to urban areas, such rights are often little used.

He explained that current legislation does not represent any obstacle to encouraging access to those areas where rights already exist, including close to urban areas, and given the extent of Wales’ rights of way and open-access land close to urban areas, there is no evidence to suggest that a change in legislation is necessary to increase the use of existing or new rights of way.

“The suggestion that the Scottish model of access could be applied in Wales without adverse effects does not take into account the fact that Wales’ population density is more than twice that of Scotland, and that the distribution of population and geography of Wales differs significantly to that in Scotland,” he added.

The consultation acknowledges problems caused in Scotland due to dog fouling, dogs not under control, and tension between anglers and canoeists – such problems already exist in Wales and would be exacerbated by implementing the Scottish model in Wales.

“We also believe that any proposals in relation to increased public access should be accompanied by legislation which ensures owners, occupiers and other right holders who have purchased or rented their rights are compensated by the Welsh Government for the impact of any changes, including in relation to the running their businesses,” said Dr Fenwick.

Following a discussion session on renewable energy schemes, Glastir and other agricultural policies with FWAG Cymru chairman Tegwyn Jones and Alun Fred Jones AM, who chairs the Environment and Sustainability committee at the Welsh Assembly, visitors took the opportunity to see the farm and hydro-electric scheme in action.

“There has been a hydro scheme at the farm since 1937 to produce electricity for their own use.  The scheme was updated in 2003 and they are also currently in the process of setting up a new separate hydro scheme. It was very interesting to see how the scheme works and I would like to thank the Puw family for hosting this event and Birch Farm Plastics for sponsoring the refreshments on the day. It has been a most informative and enjoyable day,” added Mr Jones.

[caption id="attachment_5728" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The delegation see the hydro-electric scheme water pool.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5729" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inspecting the pump-house are (l-r) FWAG Cymru chairman Tegwyn Jones, FUW director of policy Nick Fenwick, FUW finance and organisation committee member for North Wales Dewi Owen and FUW Meirionnydd county chairman Euros Puw.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5730" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The water reservoir for the Hydro-electric scheme.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5723" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (r-l) FUW president Glyn Roberts with former FUW president Emyr Jones, his wife Lyn and singer Dafydd Iwan.[/caption]

The Meirionnydd branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales has honoured former FUW president Emyr Jones with a special celebratory dinner held at the Ship Hotel in Dolgellau, on Friday September 25, to thank him for his service to the industry.

Mr Jones, a Bala beef and sheep farmer stood down as the FUW president following 15 years’ loyal service to the organisation at national level in June.

He was Meirionnydd county chairman from 1998 to 2000 when he was elected to represent North Wales on the union’s central finance and organisation committee. He was elected national vice president in 2002, deputy president in 2003 and president in 2011.

“I would like thank all the staff and members of the union for their support over the past 15 years and I offer my heartfelt thanks to all those people, both inside and outside our industry, for their valuable help through all the good, and sometimes difficult, times,” Mr Jones said.

Mr Jones is married with three children. A Welsh speaker, he was born and brought up on the family farm Rhiwaedog, Rhosygwaliau, near Bala.

The farm extends to 360 acres, with a further 300 acres of rented land, and carries a herd of 60 pedigree Welsh Black suckler cows and 1,700 breeding sheep.

FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones, who organised the event, said: “We enjoyed a very successful evening and I would like to thank all those who attended in honour of Emyr Jones. Emyr is and has been a stalwart of the union and we thank him greatly for all he has done for not just the union but agriculture as a whole.”

He is a prominent member of many organisations including the Welsh Mountain Sheep Society, Welsh Black Cattle Society, and is a director of Meirionnydd County Show.

He is a former chairman of Meirionnydd Grassland Society and has been a member since the society was founded 30 years ago.

His contribution to agriculture was recognised when he became an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies, and received the honour of Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies in 2001.

Rhiwaedog has won several accolades over many years including the Royal Welsh Show Farm Buildings Facilities Award and the Snowdonia National Park Society Farming and Landscape Award.

Its main achievement was in 2008 when the farm won the British Grassland Societies National Grassland and Management competition in Wales and went forward to win the UK title.

Mr Jones also devotes a great deal of time to community life, being a former chairman of his community council. He is active with his local show at Llangower and is also a deacon of his local chapel.

He is passionately committed to the principles on which the FUW was established and frequently speaks on behalf of the union on radio and television.