Wales Farmer JANUARY 2014 NEWS


Major blowtowest Wales milksector


31 jobs at risk at Dairy Crest site


FOOD giant Dairy Crest looks set to deliver its second jobs blow to a west Wales town, with the announcement of closure proposals for its dairy in


Whitland. Proper Welsh Milk, which employs 31 people,was only


By Ruth Davies


taken over by Dairy Crest in March, whobought it from its administrators for£325,000. Proper Welsh Milk wascreated in 2011 and invested over £1million in anew dairy on the creamery site.Ironically, it wasDairy Crest which previouslyshut down Whitland Creamery 19 years ago with the loss of 156 jobs. Dairy Crest’schief executive,


MarkAllen, said: “Weare disap- pointed thatithas not been pos- sible to makeasuccess of Proper Welsh, butlower sales and higher costs mean it is not possible to operatethe site economically.”


The town’s county councillor,


Sue Allen, said: “I feel deeplydis- appointed by the news coming at this time of year.Carmarthens- hire County Council has been working closelywith the business throughout, and has supported the project from the start. “I have alreadyasked thatthey immediatelyexploreany poten- tial forinvestment with the par- ties thathavebeen involved in similar negotiations at other milk processing plants.” And localMPSimon Hart said


he was‘desperatelysad’ that Dairy Crest could not makethe venturework. He added: “The employees


have worked incredibly hard, and deserveabetter outcome than this.Iwill do anything Ican to help them find alternative work in the area and urge them to get in touch.” Farmers’ Union of Wales vice-


president, Brian Walters,who runs adairy


farmnear


Carmarthen, described the pro- posed closureas‘amajor body blow forthe region’s capacity to process milk locally’. The companyisstarting con-


sultation with employees and their representativesoverthe pro- posed closureofthe dairy,and Mr Allen added: “Wewill do all we can to help employees at the


dairy whomay be affected by these proposals.Wewill also work with customers to offer them


alternative packing


arrangements and ensurethereis no disruption to their service. “Weremain committed to the


Welsh dairy sector,and arecon- tinuing to recruit farmers and invest in milk collection facilities around Carmarthen.” Organic dairy co-operative


Calon Wen, whose milk was processedinWhitland, assureit would continue to supplyits cus- tomers as normal. Managing director Dai Miles


said: “Wehaveoffers to process our milk elsewhere.”


Wales achieves 94% SFP payout success


JUST 6% of Welsh farmers did not receive their Single Payments on December 1st. The Welsh Government paid out more


than £196million to farmers on thatday. The 94% whoreceivedtheir payments


on the first dayofthe payment window wasinaddition to the 3,100 farmers affect- ed by last spring’ssevere winter weather whohad alreadyreceivedadvanced pay- ments totalling £28.5million. In total, 15,417 applications have been processed so far.Last year 91% of pay-


By Debbie James


ments were made on December 1st. Speaking at the RoyalWelsh Winter


Fair,Welsh farming minister Alun Davies said hitting 94% of payments at the first opportunity demonstrated the Welsh Government’scommitment to provide farmers with the best possible service. “Thatisalso whyItook the decision to


advance payments to farmers whowere affected by the severe spring weather in


order to help ease some of the financial pressures they arefacing,’’ he said. NFU Cymru president Ed Bailey wel-


comed the announce- ment.


“This is greatnewsand


will help farmbusiness cash-flowinayear that has been plagued by the worst spring in living memory together with increasing input costs for


Harlequin leads the way


British Limousin Cattle Society Show and Sale, Brecon, November 9th


ASTYLISH bull scooped the double honour of supreme champion and top price of the dayatthe British Limousin Cattle Society’sshowand sale in Brecon. Mynach Harlequin, from E. D.


Griffiths &Co, Cilgryman Fawr, Cwmfelin Mynach, Whitland, Carmarthenshire, arrivedatBrecon with aconsiderable showrecord behind him, including junior male reservechampion at the RoyalWelsh Showand reserveoverall and male champion at the Stars of the Future event. He then liveduptohis billing when he picked up the supreme championship and senior section titles under judge Colin Phillips,who runs the noted Powerhouse herdat The Batch, Weobley,Herefordshire. Weighing in at 970kgs,the January 2012-born bull is by the 27,000gns Greenwell Dreamboyand is out of the Sablesired Mynach Burgundy. In the sale,hewas purchased by D. R.


Price,ofGarreglwyd,


Llandeusant, Llangadog, fortheir Garreglwydpedigree herdfor the top


Meadow Foods is the UK’sleading manufacturer of dairy based ingredient products to food manufacturers in the UK, Worldwide and we arenow looking for more milk in your area.


WANTED Dairy farmers


DOUBLE HONOUR: As well as taking the supreme championship, Mynach Harlequin also achieved the top price.


price of the dayof9,000gns. Agood showof32bulls met with


an increased averageonthe year of £301 at £3,750. Twomorebulls were sold on the year and the clearance rate was73%. Six bulls in all made 5,000gns or moreonthe day. The day’ssecond top price of 7,200gns went to the reservesupreme and senior champion, Dyfri Hercules,fromMessrs D. G. and M. J. Edwards, of Home Farm, Cilycwm, Llandovery.March 2012 born, Dyfri Hercules has astrong


beef value of LM+35 and good calv- ing figures,and waspurchased by A. Thomas,Llanligo,Monaughty, Knighton, Powys.Selling at 6,200gns wasthe day’sjunior champion, Garyvaughan HooverfromMrC.V. Lewis,ofGart Vaughan, Cyfronydd, Welshpool, Powys to C. and S. Thomas,ofHurstley Court, Kinnersley,Hereford. Averages: Bulls (32): £3750; cows


and calves (9) £2070; heifers (21) £1629. Auctioneers: McCartneys.


Meadow Foods already has milk producers in South and North Wales and is looking for new producers to meet extra demand from our customers. If you areconsidering anew milk contract to suit your business, we can help:


•Compositional or liquid style contracts •Simple achievable pricing schedules •Noseasonality option •Nocapital retention


If you areinterested in finding out moreorwould like us to send you aprice schedule please contact: Jim Bebb on 07919 118026 or j.bebb@meadowfoods.co.uk


Rough Hill, Marston-cum-Lache, Chester,CheshireCH4 9JS. Tel: 01244 629478


feed, fertiliser and fuel,”said Mr Bailey. “This payment is hugelyimportant to the viability of farmbusinesses.”


THISmonth 3


News ...........3-7 Opinions ..........8 Dairy focus ........9 Genomics ........12 Feature ..........14 Beef farming ......16 Winter Fair ....18-19 YFC ..........20-21 Orchards ........22 Animal health .....23 Classified ........24 Food ............25 Rural people .....26 Countryside ......27


For Wales Farmer contact details see page 8.


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


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