Wales Farmer September 2013 NEWS


‘Catastrophe cover’ could help protect farmingbusinesses


■ Snow review initial findings made public


FARMERS who suffered exceptional losses in last winter’s heavy snow may in future be able to insure their businesses against such severe weather


events. The proposal has emerged fol-


By Debbie James


lowing aWelsh Government- commissioned reviewinto the resilience of Wales’ livestock industry.


Thousands of sheep died in


affected regions of Wales with high concentrations of flocks. Wales’ farming minister Alun


Davies announced thatakey rec- ommendation thathad emerged from the reviewfocused on the industry working with insurance companies to explorethe poten- tial for“catastrophe cover” for significant losses.


Mr Davies reckons this


approach is preferable to tax- payerfunded emergency grants after an “incident or episode” has taken place. Kevin Roberts,who led the


reviewonbehalf of the Welsh Government, made the recom- mendation. Mr Roberts also recommended


thataplan needed to be put in place to deliverthe required response if the industry is faced with asimilar threatinfuture. The so-called contingency


management plan will be devel- oped in partnership with the


farming industry’sstakeholders across Wales. Mr Davies pointed out that


had the severe weather been an outbreak of animal disease,or another pan-Wales emergency, well-established


procedures


would have been triggered, but similar arrangements do not exist forlocalised, weather-related sit- uations.Ageneric contingency management plan would resolve this.


“This plan will also ensurethat


we get the correct and timely intelligence in order to provide an appropriate and measured


Farmersurged to download an app thatcould savelives


By Debbie James


WELSH farmers arebeing urged to download anew mobile phone appdesigned to help reduce the number of people killed or injured on farms every year. At the RoyalWelsh Show, St


John Wales unveiled an appthat givesadvice on dealing with con- ditions associated with common farmaccidents,including severe bleeding, crush injuries and amputations. The app, designed to work in


rural areas evenwith limited or no internet access,also givesgen- eral first aid advice such as deal- ing with burns and scalds and administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Up to 50 workers arekilled on


British farms every year,ahigher rate than in either construction or manufacturing. Keith Dunn, chief executive at


St John Wales,said the newapp could dramaticallyincrease chances of survivalinthe event of an accident. “Wewant to equip farmers with the skills needed to save a


LIFE-SAVING SKILLS: Wales YFC members are given first aid training at the Royal Welsh Show by aStJohn Wales officer.


life,” said Mr Dunn, during the launch at the Young Farmers’ stand.


“Our vision is to have afirst aider on every street in Wales and


this appwill help us on our way to achieving that.” St John Wales also runs first


aid training courses aimed at farmers,focusing on treating


common farming injuries. The appwas funded and


developed by BT and can be downloaded at www.stjohn wales.org.uk.


Calls to reviewbovineTBpolicy


WALES’ policy on bovine TB eradication should be reviewed because of the number of cattle infected with bovine TB cases in Wales. Ed Bailey,president of NFU Cymru, made the plea at the


RoyalWelsh Showasthe latest figures showedthatmorethan 2,500 cattle had been slaughtered in the first four months of the year.


Mr Bailey said losing cattle in the prime of their productive


livesrepresented one of the biggest impacts on efficiency in Welsh farming. “The resilience of farmers and


their families is so sorelytested by this horrendous disease,” said Mr Bailey.


He urged the Welsh


Government to back Welsh farmers with acomprehensive TB eradication programme. The second year of badger


vaccination is currentlyunder- wayinnorth Pembrokeshire.


Boostthe life of your existingSwards.


edto


Call PRAg to organise your seed and OverseedingService


FERTILISER • LIME • AGROCHEMICALS • ADDITIVES • SEED • SOIL SAMPLING • CROPWALKING • GRAINTRADING 01437781780 • info@prag.ltd.uk • www.prag.ltd.uk


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk 08448805378 FREE AGRONOMYADVICE HELPLINE


INNOVATIVE: Tomorrow-Today exhibitor Sam Mottram of award-winning eCow is pictured with Welsh farming minister Alun Davies.


Tomorrow’s farm showcased today


WELSH farmers arebeing urged to embrace newtechnology and services to increase profitability and sustainability. Speaking at the launch of an


inaugural RoyalWelsh Showexhi- bition featuring hi-tech innova- tions,the minister fornatural resources and food, Alun Davies, said farmers must be open to new ideas,new developments and new ways of working. The Tomorrow-Todayexhibi-


tion showcased everything from newgrass and clovervarieties to GPS technology. One of the exhibitors wasTom


Allison, afarmer’sson whodevel- ops,installs and maintains com-


puterised dairying systems from the familyfarmatSychpant, near Cardigan. One of Tom’sdevelopments is a


system thatrecords acow’s tem- peratureand alerts farmvets of cows thatcould be suffering from mastitis or other production- related problems.This allows treatmenttobeinstigated before serious signsbecome visible. Another exhibitor,eCow,


which produces bolus technology designed to improveanimal health, wasawarded the Royal Welsh Showaward of merit fora newinnovation thatshows the most potential forimproving agri- cultureinWales.


response to adeveloping or changing situation,”said Mr Davies. “I believe it is important mov-


ing forwardthatthereisaconsis- tent approach to howthese events and guidance aredelivered across Wales.” Although Mr Davies faced criticism thatthe measures he put in place in response to the severe weather were inadequate,Mr Roberts’ reviewfound thatthe intervention was‘appropriate’. The reviewisongoing and a


final report will be published in November.


THISmonth 3


News ...........3-5 Ram health ........6 Silage ............8 Animal health ......8 Enterprise ........9 Opinions .........10 Royal Welsh ....11-18 Fishguard show ...19 Brecon Show ...20-21 YFC ............22 Classified ........23 YFC ..........24-26 Sheepdog trials ...27


For Wales Farmer contact details see page 8.


fro


d


m


fee se


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28