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The Farmers’ Union of Wales is looking forward to what promises to be an exciting Royal Welsh Winter Fair 2017, held on Monday 27 November and Tuesday 28 November, at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.
Members are invited to call by the Union stand, which is located next to the main show ring, for a chat about #FarmingMatters and light refreshments - a warm welcome is guaranteed to all.
FUW President Glyn Roberts said: “We look forward to welcoming our members and friends to the FUW stand and hope to see many of you there.
“Our staff and officials are on hand to discuss any questions you may have about #FarmingMatters, including the new Bovine TB rules, diversification and quarantine units.”
On Monday 27 November, members will be discussing concerns relating to Brexit and agriculture with the Welsh Affairs Committee.
Other events on Monday, include the launch of the FUW’s ‘Guide to Diversification’ at the FUW stand at 11am. The guide will highlight areas to consider, such as legal issues and tax implications, as well as featuring case studies from Union members who have already diversified.
As well as this, a joint 2 day seminar with the Animal Welfare Network Wales on livestock worrying is held at the FUW Pavilion on the Royal Welsh Showground.
The seminars will start at 2pm and the FUW is joined by Hope Rescue who will speak about ‘Dog Training & Behaviour’ and the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) will talk about ‘Training your Dog & Livestock worrying’.
On Tuesday, 28 November, the FUW is hosting a further seminar on livestock worrying at its Pavilion, which will also start at 2pm, with North Wales Police on ‘Dogs Attacking Livestock’ and will hear first hand from Gwyn Thomas, sheep farmer and FUW member, of his experience on farm with livestock worrying.
FUW Senior Policy Officer Dr Hazel Wright, who is chairing the livestock worrying seminars, said: “ Livestock worrying continues to be an important issue for our members. These seminars offer the opportunity to discuss the issue from the perspective of the farmer, the police and animal behaviour and welfare charities and we are delighted to be hosting this important event.”
To help raise the awareness of the dangers of working with animals, the Wales Farm Safety Partnership with the support of Farming Connect will be holding Safe Cattle Handling Workshops during this year’s Winter Fair.
The workshops are located next to the Lantra building, delivered by Lantra instructors and are free for anyone to come along and to learn more about how to handle cattle safely, to avoid injury to the animals and most importantly to humans.
The workshops last approximately 20 minutes and will be ran over the 2 days at the following times:
• 10.30am
• 11.30am
• 1.30pm
• 2.30pm
Huw Jones, the FUW’s representative on the Wales Farm Safety Partnership group, said: “This is a great opportunity to learn new techniques on cattle handling which will hopefully help avoid any unnecessary injuries or accidents and I urge anyone who is handling cattle to make use of these great workshops.”
In addition, there is a chance to win an outstanding Welsh Christmas Food Hamper, and the winner will be chosen on the Tuesday afternoon of the show. Call by the stand to find out how you can enter!