[caption id="attachment_5656" align="aligncenter" width="300"] (l-r) FUW Montgomeryshire county chairman Mark Williams, FUW Montgomeryshire county executive officer Emyr Wyn Davies and FUW president Glyn Roberts.[/caption]

The Farmers’ Union of Wales has appointed a former Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) Cymru farm conservation adviser as its new county executive officer for Montgomeryshire.

Mr Emyr Wyn Davies hails from the county and was educated at Ysgol Bro Ddyfi, Machynlleth. After leaving school he attended Coleg Llysfasi before subsequently attending Aberystwyth University.

Before commencing work with the FUW Emyr dealt with Agri-environment schemes, nutrient management plans and S.S.S.I (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) designations as part of his role with FWAG Cymru and covered the North and Mid Wales areas.

Having worked for FWAG Cymru when the Glastir scheme came into force enabled Emyr to gain a sound knowledge of the most recent subsidies applicable to Welsh farmers.

“I aim to build on the relationships I have already formed by applying myself in my new capacity as the county executive officer for Montgomeryshire. I relish a new challenge and look forward to taking the FUW into its next chapter,” said Mr Davies.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales is calling on farmers to be aware of the looming September 30 deadline for submitting an expression of interest application form for the Sustainable Production Grant (SPG).

FUW president Glyn Roberts, said: “It’s vitally important that farmers don’t miss out on this opportunity to access monies from the sustainable production grant as this is a chance for farmers to receive funds designed to aid them in investing in the future sustainability of their farms.  

“The FUW was extremely disappointed by the decision to transfer the maximum 15 percent  of pillar 1 monies into pillar 2 and we would therefore urge members to make sure they use every opportunity to claw some of this money back in a meaningful way,” added Mr Roberts.

The purpose of the scheme is to provide investment in order to improve performance and sustainability of agricultural holdings.  However, the union is concerned that many farmers remain unaware of the scheme and, as such, have not considered the impending deadline to submit an interest.

There are five key investment themes, that will be considered - animal health and welfare; crop storage; production housing and handling; renewable energy production and soil and crop management. The minimum grant threshold per enterprise for any individual investment project is £16,000. The maximum grant threshold per enterprise for any individual investment project is £400,000.

The application is a two stage process whereby successful expression of interest applicants will then be invited to submit full applications.  The window for full applications is expected to open on November 30, 2015, with May 31, 2016 being the deadline for submission.

[caption id="attachment_5640" align="aligncenter" width="300"] FUW delegates discuss food security issues with Secretary of State Stephen Crabb[/caption]

The importance of nurturing and supporting Welsh producers, and thereby protecting and improving domestic food security, was at the top of the agenda when Farmers’ Union of Wales delegates met the Rt Hon. Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb at a recent farm visit.

The meeting, which was held at FUW deputy president Brian Thomas’s farm at Llwyncelyn Lan, Llanfyrnach, Pembrokeshire on Thursday September 3, heard members express the view that the government needed to develop a competitive food security strategy for the UK. 

FUW deputy president Brian Thomas, who farms 70 beef shorthorn cattle and 150 ewes on the holding with cereals also being grown, said: “I would firstly like to thank the secretary of state for Wales Stephen Crabb for meeting with us here on the farm.

“It has been a most productive meeting and FUW members were able to use this opportunity to highlight many of the financial difficulties facing them following the recent lamb and milk price crisis.

“As part of these discussions we talked about the importance of food security and how a food security strategy plan would give farmers confidence to develop their businesses, which in turn would support the development of rural areas. 

The subject of food procurement was highlighted as an important part of a food security strategy and the Union stressed that both farmers and consumers will be subject to volatile pricing if nothing is done to better support the home industry.  Whilst the union was pleased to hear that the MOD and NHS had increased the amount of British produce they source, the FUW made clear that more must be done.

“The use of quality PGI products must be included as part of the procurement criteria for sourcing food for schools and public bodies and we would ask local, national and devolved administrations to make a greater effort in this respect.

“Farmers are custodians of the countryside and they are responsible for the important task of producing food for the nation.  However, they are vulnerable to the market place,” added Mr Thomas.  

The delegation further discussed the EU’s role in managing global oversupply and FUW senior policy officer Dr Hazel Wright emphasised that it was imperative that the market place functions in a way which ensures a future for the UK agricultural industry and that this may mean some form of supply management.

The union further highlighted that much of the cheese manufactured in the UK went into supermarket own branded packets, yet it wasn’t clear from the labelling in which part of the UK the cheese had been produced, and yet this is something that many consumers have stated that they want. 

“We were pleased to hear that Mr Crabb acknowledged that labelling is still a problem and that discussions on clear labelling were continuing.

“It is important that government recognises the value of Welsh branded products.  Agriculture has hardly featured in the UK’s export strategy under past governments but we were pleased to hear that food production is now a major and vital part of the strategy and we stressed the importance of this continuing,” said Mr Thomas.

The Farmers' Union of Wales is urging Tesco to back Welsh dairy farmers by committing to a minimum farm gate price of 28 pence per litre for cheese purchased from First Milk and South Caernarfon Creameries.

Following a meeting with industry representatives earlier this month, Tesco agreed to consider a minimum farm gate price for cheese.

“There has been a great deal of emphasis placed on liquid milk recently and we welcome moves to raise the price paid for standard milk.  However, around 80 percent of the milk processed in Wales goes into cheese production and the opportunities to provide Welsh dairy producers with better prices has therefore been limited,” said FUW milk and dairy produce chairman Dei Davies. 

“A commitment by Tesco to minimum cheese pricing would therefore provide a level of support to Welsh producers that liquid initiatives simply cannot do and would be a great boost for the sector.

“At the same time, it is imperative that consumers are confident in the origin of the cheese that they are buying and the FUW would also like to see Tesco agree to a single country of origin label on cheese.  This way, consumers can trust that the cheese they put in their basket is British,” added Mr Davies.

A decision is due to be made on this matter shortly and the FUW would urge Tesco to build on the progress already made and demonstrate a commitment to hard working Welsh producers by paying a fairer price for cheese.