Autumn can certainly be felt in the evenings these past few nights with amazing sunsets, darkness encroaching earlier and a certain chillier feel in the air. Following the wind and rain of the past week there are also plenty of acorns and leaves crunching under foot as we go about our work on the farm. 

Whatever the weather, the FUW team has seen a busy week, with farm visits, briefings and county meetings in the offing. Delegates visited the US embassy in London last week to discuss a number of issues facing our farmers. It was great to secure a meeting with influential individuals at the US Embassy to discuss Welsh agriculture. Wool and leather was one topic of conversation and seeing if we could share ideas of better ways to promote Welsh wool and developing markets similar to those for leather in America. Naturally Welsh lamb markets were also high on the agenda and any potential inroads into the US were discussed. Renewable energy was another agenda item, and of course, any new trade opportunities for Welsh agriculture following the US elections. It was interesting to learn about The US Agricultural Extension Scheme which brings together farmers, researchers and governments to work as one. Could we implement a similar scheme in the UK for agricultural innovation? 

We are, as always, so grateful to our farming family members for facilitating visits to their farms. With so many new politicians walking Westminster’s corridors now, we are keen to bring them to our farms to see for themselves, at grassroot level, what is affecting our farmers day to day lives. There’s no better way to engage people than seeing our farmland in the open air whilst appreciating some of our wonderful countryside which is maintained by our farming way of life. It’s true to say that not all politicians are used to animals, muck, silage, slurry, grass and livestock sheds, but it is the working office that faces our food producers every day.

One recent such visit was to the Davies family dairy farm at Holywell, a county council dairy holding in north east Wales. Becky Gittins, the newly elected MP for Clwyd East attended with us and met with the farmers, Dei and Heulwen Davies and their son, Rhys. 

They farm 100 acres at Moor Farm, Holywell, with the council tenancy run on a 15 year agreement on 73 of those acres. A further 100 acres is temporarily rented land for silage and grazing. The family run 120 milking cows at Moor Farm, with around 80 young stock on a spring calving system. Dei is a recent former Chair of the FUW’s Milk and Dairy Produce Committee and we’ve gained much from the experience of farmers like Dei whilst bringing in the next generation of farmers to our committees. He has worked tirelessly over the years on behalf of the dairy industry and is a keen ambassador willing to share information with the public. That is one reason we were keen for Dei to meet MP Becky Gittins, and offer some insight to the industry.

Alun Owen, our FUW Regional Vice President for North Wales hosted another visit at Gallt-y-Celyn, Pentrefoelas with his wife Marian and son Siôn. A very different farm to Moor Farm, Gallt-y -Celyn is an upland farm producing store cattle and fat lambs on the Foelas estate in the Uwchaled area within Conwy county. Alun had invited Claire Hughes, Bangor Aberconwy MP to the farmyard to offer some first hand insight to the industry as a whole and the event was a great success. 

We’re hopeful that both Becky and Claire left the farms better informed and more willing to represent the issues that matter to our members on the green benches of Westminster.