Wales Farmer May 2013 NEWS


350 jobs lost at Anglesey meat plant


■ Welsh levy losses could top £500,000


WELSH lamb producers have been dealt a‘body blow’ with the ‘disas- trous’ closure of ameat processing plant on


Anglesey. The Welsh Country Foods


plant at Gaerwen closed on April 12th after parent group Vion failed to find abuyer for the site. The chairman of Welsh red


meatpromotion agency Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC), Dai Davies said the closurewill affect the entireWelsh sheep industry. “For Wales to lose one of the


By Rhiannon Llewellin


largest processing plants in Britain, with particular strategic importance to the industry in north Wales,isdisastrous,” said Mr Davies. Along with the loss of 350


jobs,the closureofthe last major abattoir in north Wales, which processed 640,000 lambs ayear,will lead to alarge drop in overall slaughter capacity in the country and thereforea reduction in levy income. HCC is funded through levies collected at abattoirs foreach sheep thatpasses through. If all the lambs currentlyprocessed at Welsh Country Foods are instead sent to abattoirs in England, HCC could lose up to £500,000 ayear. “This would obviouslyhave


an impact on our continuing work to promote the Welsh lamb


brand, affecting farmers across Wales,” added Mr Davies. NFU Cymru president Ed


Bailey described the closureasa bodyblowtolamb producers across Wales. “The loss of one of the


biggest slaughterhouses in Wales bodes badlyfor an industry alreadysuffering from lowprices and increased costs,” said Mr Bailey.


“Competition forlambs is important, as is the mix of large, medium and small abattoirs in Wales to meet various markets forsheep meatinWales,the UK and Europe. “Loss of Gaerwen abattoir


capacity will significantlyaffect this balance and ability to sup- plyvarious markets with aqual- ity Welsh product.” The Gaerwen site wasone of


twomeatplants on Anglesey owned by Dutch companyVion,


which announced last


November thatitwas looking to sell all its facilities in the UK, to focus on its operations in Europe. The sister poultry plant at Llangefni wasbought in March by the Birmingham-based 2 Sisters Food Group,safeguard- ing some 300 jobs,along with sites at Sandycroft in Flintshire, which employs 1,300 people, and at Merthyr Tydfil where another 1,300 jobs were saved. Welsh Country Foods is the


onlyone of Vion’s facilities to fail to find abuyer. Therehad been hopes of a


management buyout of the site and speculation of interest from foreign companies. Despite the closure, the NFU


and HCC both urged Vion, the Welsh Government


and


Anglesey Council to continue looking forabuyer forsite.


Search for astar 13% VAT cut call


THE search is on forafarming star to be the face of the Britains Farm Toys 2014 toy collection. The aptlynamed Britains’ Got Talent com- petition, which is sup- ported by the NFU, is open to all chil- dren aged five to


eight years old who either love farming, or


farmtoys.


The winner of the competition will featurein Britains’ 2014 consumer catalogue and will also receive abumper pack of Britains Farm Toys to play with at home. Entering is easy; just download the entry form


from the resources section at www.farming delivers.co.uk. Fill in the entry form saying whyyou love farming


or farmtoysand include apictureofyou doing a farming activity. The competition closes on June 1st.


THERE arecalls foradramatic 13% cut in the VATlevelled at tourism in abid to boost the contribution this sector makes to the incomes of Welsh farmers and landowners. Anew report by CLA Wales recom-


mends adramatic reduction from 20% to 7% to bring the UK in line with the rest of Europe. The report –entitled Wish YouWere


Here? –accuses the Government of allowing investment in the UK’ssixth largest industry to slide –and driving it almost to the bottom of the worldleague on tourism taxes. The walking and mountaineering


industry alone is worth £77million ayear and is responsible for4,250 jobs in Wales. “Tourism in Wales is one of the largest industries and contributes £2billion in spending from overnight and dayvisi- tors,” says CLA Wales director,Ben Underwood.


“If we aretocompete with overseas


destinations forholidays we have to makeourselves as attractive as possible to prospective visitors instead of placing heavy taxes on them.” The current rate of VAT, he added,


makes holidaying in Wales overly expen- sive forvisitors from both home and abroad, leading to the loss of the associ- ated benefits of tourism. “Thatimpacts far beyond the country-


side,forming acomplexweb of econom- ic relationships between cities,suburbs, surrounding countryside,small town and villages,” said Mr Underwood. “Wales is one of the most popular


tourist destinations in theUKparticular- ly with the opening of the All Wales Coastal Path, which links all three of the spectacular national parks,making Wales the first country in the worldto provide adedicated footpath along its entirecoastline.”


Keep sheep safe from toxic flower


SHEEP grazing Welsh mountain slopes areatrisk from ahighly toxic plant this spring. With ashortage of vegetation


on the ground, thereisconcern thatthe leavesofthe rhododen- dron will tempt sheep. These leavesare poisonous


and therehavebeen recent cases of sheep dying in Snowdonia after eating them.


The Snowdonia National Park


Authority,which has spent around £2million on managing rhododendrons,has issued a warning to farmers to be on their guard. Rhys Owen, the authority’s


head of the agricultureand con- servation, said the plant was deceptive. “Although it looks greatwhen


it blooms,itishighlytoxic to most animals,birds and insects. It spreads rapidlyand other plants cannot live underneath it as it casts such athick shadow. “Asspring is late this year,and


the land has been bleak and grey, the rich green leavesofthe rho- dodendron areappealing to sheep. “However,its effect on the


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farmer is costly, so we’reappeal- ing to the farmers in Snowdonia to be cautious of theirsheep around this toxic plant.” In 2008, the authority adopted


acontrol strategy forthe rhodo- dendron in Snowdonia and has joined forces with Natural Resources Wales,The National Trust and GwyneddCouncil to control the plant.


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Hill ponies perish in harshweather


THE harsh weather has claimed the livesofatleast 40 ponies liv- ing wild on the Welsh uplands. The Carneddau mountain


ponies have been grazing the slopes


of the Aber and


Llanfairfechan Mountain in Snowdonia foratleast 500 years. Although they aremore


resilient than other breeds and can usuallysurvive harsh condi- tions,the recent snowclaimed the livesofatleast 40. National Park wardens and


estate workers have volunteered to help the Carneddau Mountain Pony Society bury these dead ani- mals. Dewi Davies,the National


By Debbie James


Park’s senior warden in northern Snowdonia, said thatdisposing of the dead ponies wasproving difficult because of the remote location. “It will be achallenge to trans-


port the bodies offthe mountain without damaging the terrain. Over the next fewdays, as the snowdrifts thaw, with the help of the National Trust, we will be searching forand burying the bodies safely,”hesaid. It is the first year since 1947


thatthe weather has claimed the livesofsomanyponies.Inthat year,half the herddied.


Farmers’ despair at ‘crumbs of comfort’


(Continued from page 1) “It is short-termism of the


worst kind and does nothing for the long-termfutureofthe indus- try.”


The Welsh Government’sdeci-


sion to extend the burial period until April 16th has been described as ‘a fewcrumbs of comfort’ by the Farmers’ Union of Wales. FUW president, Emyr Jones,


said it wasthe least the Welsh Government could do. “All the minister is offering are


afew crumbs of comfort which will do little to alleviate the crisis facing Welsh farming nowand in the longer term,”hesaid. “When Imet him on a Montgomeryshirefarmlast week Iurged him to consider an emer- gency financial package as the devolved administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland have alreadyagreed to assist farmers hit by similar weather conditions. “But he has shown atotal dis- regardfor the wayinwhich many


Welsh farmers arenow fighting hardtosustain their livelihoods in the hills.” NFU Cymru welcomed the


extension, butinsisted thatthe independent reviewmust not divert the focus from the immedi- acy of the current issues facing upland farmers. The freezing conditions are


likelytocreatelong-termuncer- tainty forthe Welsh redmeat industry. Gwyn Howells,chief executive


of the Welsh redmeatpromotion agency,HybuCig Cymru –Meat Promotion Wales (HCC), said a reduced lamb crop wasexpected this year because the worst affect- ed areas were regions known for their lamb production. The full impact of the snow


and cold weather on the industry will not be known until the lamb- ing season has come to an end. Farmers arealso facing increases in the cost of producing lamb in the coming months because they arebeing forced to purchase more feed.


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