A warm welcome awaits members and visitors to the Farmers’ Union of Wales stand at the Meirionnydd County Show, which will be held near Harlech on Wednesday August 26.

“We would warmly like to welcome our members to join us at this year’s Meirionnydd county show to discuss the union’s work on lobbying for Welsh lamb and milk prices with our presidential team and we are looking forward to further discuss matters of concern to the farming industry with Liz Saville Roberts MP and Dafydd Elis Thomas AM during the day,” said FUW Meirionnydd county executive officer Huw Jones.

A new interesting feature at the stand this year will be a display by the Cynefin project which aims to digitise all of the tithe maps in Wales.  The project shows how field names were recorded in the 1840’s, and interestingly, can be compared with the way fields are recorded today as part of the SAF/RPW online process.

FWAG director for Wales Dr Glenda Thomas, will be at the stand between 2.00pm and 3.00pm providing information on the latest developments on Glastir agreements or any general issues in respect of agri environment work on farms.

Rural crime officer for North Wales Police Dewi Evans, will be at the FUW stand between 12noon and 1pm to discuss the latest efforts to combat crime and the OWL messaging service available to the farming community and the FUW is looking forward to welcome Meirionnydd RABI (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution) representatives to the stand as well.

“We are further looking forward to welcoming Gareth Wyn Jones from the British Wool Marketing Board and Natural Resources Wales technical advisor James West to our stand.

“Visitors to our stand can discuss any aspects of the work relating to the newly formed Dwyfor Meirionnydd Internal Drainage District (IDD) advisory group with James and the union’s solicitors Gamlins, will this year have a representative on the FUW stand and offer a half hour free advice to members,” added Mr Jones.

FUW staff from Meirionnydd and FUW Insurance Services Life Insurance Consultant Mark Williams, a former Independent Financial Adviser, will be able to offer advice and guidance and discuss matters of concern with members throughout the day.

“The show this year is the responsibility of the Ardudwy, Harlech, Penrhyndeudraeth, Llanfrothen areas and the county branch is once again extremely grateful to the ladies section from these areas who take responsibility for the refreshments,” added Mr Jones.

The Denbigh and Flint branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales is putting the spotlight on Welsh milk and lamb during this week’s county show (August 20) by hosting a competition on who can drink a pint of milk and eat a Welsh lamb burger the fastest.

The union will also be celebrating its 60 year history with a birthday cake and have a display of old county photographs.

“We are very excited to be at this year’s Denbigh and Flint county show and are inviting visitors to come to the FUW stand for the Welsh milk and Welsh lamb competition and are also handing out free milk to visitors.

“Welsh milk and Welsh lamb are great quality products and as a union we carrying on in our effort to promote these good nutritious products to the public and help to raise the profile of Welsh farming,” said FUW Denbigh and Flint county executive officer Mari Dafydd Jones.

“We are also giving away a hamper of local food produce as part of a raffle and visitor can be assured of a warm welcome,” she added.

[caption id="attachment_5592" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The dairy and lamb crisis was high on the agenda for FUW committee chairmen[/caption]

A delegation of Farmers’ Union of Wales standing committee chairmen held a crisis meeting today at the union’s head office in Aberystwyth, to discuss a way forward for the problems faced by the dairy and lamb industry.

Recent weeks have seen farmer anger reach boiling point, with producers holding protests in and outside of supermarkets in a bid to get a better deal for their produce.

FUW president Glyn Roberts, who chaired today’s meeting, said: “We have had a very productive meeting today and discussed the ways in which the union can help strengthen producer positions and make their voices heard.

“As a result of the meeting, the FUW is launching the ‘It’s more than just lamb’ campaign, which will highlight the problems faced by the industry and aims to engage consumers more effectively with Welsh produce.

“Over the next few weeks we will continue to meet with industry bodies, government and retailers to further strengthen the position of our members. As part of these meetings, we will be talking about farmgate prices alongside local procurement, clearer labelling and consumer behaviour.

“We had a varied representation of industry sectors at today’s meeting, which showed how important it is that we all work together to secure a sustainable future for Welsh farming.”

The Pembrokeshire branch of the Farmers’ Union of Wales is taking a look back at the last sixty years of the union in the county at this year’s Pembrokeshire County show (August 18-20) and will also be asking consumers to support farmers by buying Welsh and British produce.

“During the three days of the show we will be meeting with both local and national politicians to discuss the current financial crisis hitting the industry together with other local issues,” said FUW Pembrokeshire county executive officer Rebecca Voyle.

“In addition, following on from discussions at the Royal Welsh Show with Ofcom, we will be undertaking a survey of farmers to establish the level of broadband and mobile phone coverage in the county and will be highlighting the “Take the Lead” campaign,” added Mrs Voyle.

Staff from Natural Resources Wales will be at the FUW stand every day of the show between 10am and 2pm to provide general advice and information on local nutrient management initiatives together with information on the ongoing review of NVZ areas.

Philip Meade, of Davis Meade Property Consultants, the union’s land agents, will be on the stand on the Wednesday of the show (August 19) to provide advice on a variety of issues ranging from rent reviews to compensation claims and renewable energy contracts. The RABI will also be on site in the afternoon between 2pm and 4pm to offer Christmas cards and 2016 calendars for sale with all of the proceeds going to the charity.

“Chris Coe, of the Farming Community Network (FCN), will also join us on the Wednesday (August 19) afternoon and all day on the Thursday (August 20) to provide information on what assistance they provide to the agricultural industry and details of how members of the rural community can become involved,” added Mrs Voyle.