Farmers' Union of Wales leaders today called for the early reinstatement of the Tir Mynydd scheme which supports the less productive farming areas of Wales when they met deputy agriculture minister Alun Davies today.

FUW president Emyr Jones, his deputy Glyn Roberts and deputy policy director Rhian Nowell-Phillips urged the minister to reinstate the scheme in time for the 2012 IACS exercise dealing with single farm payments.

"Due to the low number of farmers entering Tir Mynydd's replacement scheme, Glastir, and the expected uncertainties over CAP reform we called for Tir Mynydd payments to be reinstated in time for the 2012 IACS due to be paid in 2013," said Mr Jones.

The Tir Mynydd scheme supports and maintains livestock production in the less productive farming areas of Wales. It is funded by the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is financed by the Welsh Government and the EU.

Approximately 80% of the total 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land in Wales falls within the designated Less Favoured Area (LFA). Some 56% of the land in Wales is in the Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA) and 23% in the Disadvantaged Area (DA).

Glastir is a five-year land management scheme, available to farmers and land managers across Wales, that the Welsh Government wants to replace the existing four agri-environment schemes from 2012.

"As well as Glastir, we followed up on other issues concerning CAP reform which we originally raised with Mr Davies in Brussels last week," said Mr Jones.

"We also brought up the plight of the dairy industry and highlighted the disparity between milk prices in the UK and the rest of Europe.

"We called for Welsh dairy farmers to have contracts which reflect some elements of a pricing formula so that producers can plan ahead for the future."

[caption id="attachment_4490" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pictured from left are Alun Davies, Deputy Welsh Agriculture Minister; Derek Vaughan MEP and Emyr Jones, FUW President.[/caption]

A Farmers' Union of Wales delegation visiting Brussels to discuss CAP reform met deputy Welsh agriculture minister Alun Davies just before he attended his first EU Agriculture Council meeting as part of the UK ministerial team alongside Defra minister Jim Paice.

"We made the most of the opportunity to tell the minister about the purpose of our visit and explain to him that we were in Brussels to fight for the future of Welsh family farms," said FUW president Emyr Jones.

Mr Davies was attending the Council as part of a two-day programme in Brussels for discussions with Mr Paice about CAP reform.

He also met Welsh MEPs and highlighted an innovative Welsh project to deliver added-value on new food products.

The showcase event highlighted the Knowledge Innovation Technology Exchange (KITE) project, delivered by the Food Industry Centre of the University of Wales Cardiff (UWIC). The programme provides a flexible package of support for small firms to help them develop the technical aspects of their businesses.

"I was impressed to learn that in the eighteen months it has been operating, the project has developed over 50 new food products, which is expected to double by the end of 2011, and over 70 jobs have been created in technical and manufacturing roles," Mr Jones added.

During the FUW's four-day visit he has led discussions with all four Welsh MEPs, the Italian chairman the European agriculture and rural development committee and other committee members from Germany, Scotland, Ireland and England.

A Farmers' Union of Wales delegation's four-day Brussels visit to discuss reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for 2014-2020 had an eventful start today.

The five-strong group is meeting MEPs from across the EU and senior EC and Welsh Government Brussels-based officials in a visit coinciding with crucial CAP discussions by the Council of Ministers and the EU Agriculture Committee.

But during their first meeting at the European Parliament building with UKIP MEP John Stuart Agnew, a member of the EC's agriculture and rural development committee, all staff and visitors were evacuated due to a massive power cut.

"We had a very constructive meeting with Mr Agnew, who is a farmer himself and fully understands the issues we discussed." said FUW president Emyr Jones.

"But it was only after the meeting ended that we realised the building had been evacuated.

"We were among the last few to leave the building.

"Hundreds had already left and we joined them outside on the concourse.

"We hope power will be restored quickly so we can resume our vital talks tomorrow," Mr Jones added.

[caption id="attachment_4485" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MAKING OF A LEGEND: FUW Meirionnydd county officer Huw Jones and Nigel Mansell flanked by brothers Geraint and Dylan Evans.[/caption]

A North Wales farmer has claimed he helped start British motor racing legend Nigel Mansell on the road to becoming a Formula One champion.

Gwynfor Evans, a former Farmers' Union of Wales Meirionnydd county chairman, owns Islawrffordd Caravan Park overlooking Cardigan Bay at Talybont, near Barmouth, which has just celebrated its 55th anniversary.

And Mansell changed an international engagement to attend the celebrations at the park where he has taken regular holidays since he was four years old and has developed a close friendship with Gwynfor who runs it with his sons Dylan and Geraint.

Gwynfor's brother Robert Wyn Evans currently represents Meirionnydd on the FUW's grand council and is also a former county chairman.

Gwynfor believes Islawrffordd may well have contributed to Nigel’s successful racing career.

“He used to race around the fields in a boxcart as a child while on holiday here."

Mansell referred to the wonderful childhood memories of his holidays at Talybont and said Gwynfor used to take him to milk the cows early in the morning.

“Very few people can say that they have been coming to the same place for 55 years and I am so proud of what the Evans family has achieved,” he told guests at the special birthday party.

“What they have done every year is improve the quality of the park.

“I love coming here to relax, play a bit of golf at Harlech on one of the best courses in the country and to take in the wonderful walks and beaches. My family likes the total freedom that caravanning offers.”

The FUW was represented among the 200 guests at the prestigious event which also celebrated the completion of the park's improvements programme and attainment of Visit Wales 5 Star status.

The 25-acre park was originally established as a farm diversification project by Gwynfor Evans in the late 1950s. It now has 75 fully serviced, hard standing pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, 30 camping plots and 201 caravan holiday homes.

The new developments take the family’’s investment in the park, which now boasts five stars from Visit Wales and five pennants from the AA, to £2.1 million over the last eight years.

Six years ago, Mansell officially opened the park’s reception suite, enhanced swimming pool complex with a jacuzzi, sauna and seating area before the Evans family invested a further £400,000 on a new luxury toilet block.

Such is the demand for holiday homes at Islawrffordd that there is a waiting list to join owners from Shropshire, the West Midlands, Wrexham area, Cheshire and Wirral.

The new fully serviced pitches have also been a huge hit with touring caravan and motorhome owners this summer and the park has received record advance bookings for 2012.

We are already virtually fully booked for Whitsun and the main weeks in July and August are filling up fast,” said John Billingham, Islawrffordd’s business manager. “It has been a very busy summer, around 25 per cent up on last year.

“People like the quality facilities that we offer and they seem to be opting for less expensive breaks in this country instead of spending on a foreign holiday.”

Dylan Evans said the 55th birthday party was an important milestone in the park’’s history and praised his father and grandmother for their vision in diversifying from farming.