Wales Farmer JANUARY 2014


Beef and lamb are web wonders


AWEBSITE promoting Welsh lamb and beef has wonatop national award. The website which has two


addresses –eatwelshlamb.co.uk and eatwelshbeef.co.uk –isrun by Welsh redmeatpromotion agency HybuCig Cymru (HCC) and wonthe Sitecoreaward for the best educational, media and advertising site.The awards recognise companies committed to delivering customer experi- ences thatengage,delight, informand motivate. LauraDodds,HCC’smarket-


ing manager,said: “Welsh lamb and Welsh beef have an unri- valled reputation forquality,and they need ahigh quality website to support them. I’m delighted


thatthe high standardachieved by our website has been recog- nised.” HCC’sbrand marketing offi-


cer Pip Gill added: “The award forthe best education, media and advertising site is atough category with stiffcompetition, and to win shows thatthe hard work put in by everyone involved in the website’screation waswell worthwhile.” The bilingual website,created


by Sequence of Cardiff, includes hundreds of lamb,beef and pork recipes,aswell as health and hygiene tips,adatabase of butch- ers whosell Welsh redmeatand alisting of members of the Welsh lamb club of leading restaurants.


WEBSITE WINNERS: Richard Shearman, of Sequence, Paul Thomas, of Sequence, Laura Dodds, HCC market development manager, Sarah Morris, Sequence marketing manager, and Pip Gill, HCC brand marketing officer with the website award.


NFU Cymru annual conference Builth Wells, November 7th


Modulationnot likely to fallfar


WELSH farmers have been warned that they are unlikely to see asig- nificant reduction in modulation, if any, when the Welsh Government unveils how it will distrib- ute Wales’ share of CAP


payments. Welsh farming minister Alun


Davies has yettoreach adeci- sion on howmuch money will be transferred from the Pillar 1of the Single Farm Payment to


By Debbie James


rural development and agri- environmental schemes through Pillar 2. But, speaking at the recent


NFU Cymru conference in Builth Wells,hesaid: “I don’t knowwhereIameventually going to go on this,but it is unlikelythatwewill see asignif- icant reduction in the current 11.5%. “Weneed to makedecisions on newrates forthe next seven


years and thatinvolves agreat deal of thinking. We need to invest in agricultureand in indi- vidual businesses butwealso need to makePillar 2invest- ments.” The modulation rate for


Wales is currentlyset at 6.5% for payments up to €5,000 and 11.5% forsums abovethis level. Carmarthenshirefarmer


Rhys Jones warned thatadrop in income from the Single Payment would impact on pro- duction efficiency.Hewent as


far as to suggest reversing mod- ulation directlyaimed at increasing production efficiency. But the minister said there


wasnoprospect of thathappen- ing and suggested thatincreas- ing direct subsidytofarming would have adetrimental effect on efficiency. “I don’t believe thatsubsidy


does lead to efficiency,you don’t increase efficiency by increasing the subsidylevel, youdothis through the method by which youdobusiness,” he said.


Farmersmust strike balance betweentheir heart and head


THE main theme of the confer- ence was‘Live to Farm or Farm to Live?’ William Lawrence,chairman


of the NFU Next generation boardemphasised the fact that most farmers’ aspirations are somewhereinthe middle.He also stressed the importance of the farming industry to the futuresustainability of the world. “Without young farmers we haven’tgot afutureand it isn’t


sustainable,”hesaid. “By 2050 the earth will be


home to nine billion people and 70% will be living in urban areas.Annual meatsupplies will have to increase by over 200mil- lion tonnes. “In meeting this challenge,


whodowerelyon? We need people on the ground physically feeding stock, growing crops and it will need to be commer- ciallyfocussed. We will have to produce twice as much food


using the same land.” In answering the question at


the heart of the conference, Pembrokeshirefarmers William added: “I farmtolive because I run abusiness and it provides my livelihood, Ilive to farm because IlovewhatIdo, believe Ican do it well and hopefully makeadifference to my commu- nity and my industry. “The younger generation con-


sider farming as acommercial business rather than just as a


lifestylechoiceand this must surely put us in agood place to meet the challenges head on, as farming will undoubtedlyplay an important role in providing forthe future.” Stephen James,NFU Cymru


Deputy President, summed up the conference and said: “For me,farming is both abusiness and away of life and we must teach the wider community about the real value of food and not just its cost.”


Chancetosell Wales to the world


“WALES has agreat product to sell to theworld,”said Alun Davies,Minister forNatural Resources and Food, during his keynote speech at the confer- ence.


Speaking at his thirdconfer-


ence,the minister referred to the lifting of American import restrictions on beef and bovine products. He added: “This will help to


open the door to the US market forWelsh redmeatand we must takeadvantage of this.Welive in acompetitive worldbut what agreat,world beating, quality product we have to sell.”


Following the minister’s


speech, Patrick Begg, rural enterprise director forthe National Trust spokeofthe need forpeople to live within their means to ensureasustain- able future. Patrick said: “Self-sufficiency


used to be achievedmoresus- tainablythan today’soil dependent lifestyles and central to asustainablefutureisthe land, keeping it in good heart so thatitretains the capacity and flexibility to produce will be crit- ical. This means harvesting in its truest form and not mining our natural assets.Farmers have a


greatopportunity to harvest these natural assets and lead in sustainability. “Management of water,soils


and biodiversity can delivereco- nomic benefits and schemes such as upland hydropower can provide clean energy forafarm, saving the farmer money in the long termand helping to con- tribute to sustainability. “Natureisfundamental to


our livesand people don’t value it enough. Society is slowlydis- engaging from the natural envi- ronment and one in five children have nevervisited the country- side.We’re not onlyexperiencing


acredit crunch, butanature crunch too.” Jake Freestone,farmmanager


at Overbury farms,spokeofhis desiretoeducate people about farming and the countryside. “Wemust engage with the


wider economyand demon- stratetothem howtheir food is produced and to encourage greater understanding and appreciation of the work thatwe do.


“Lifelong engagement with


the countryside starts young and it’simportant to install these values and appreciations from an early age.”


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk NEWS 5


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