Wales Farmer 6


More work needed to help rural economy


NOTenough is being done to help the economic recovery in rural Wales,the Welsh Liberal Democratshaveclaimed. Eluned Parrott and William


Powell led adebatecalling on the Welsh Government to implement athree point plant to get the rural economyback on track. The three points are: *Examine acommunity bank


structuretosustain the presence of local banks in rural areas,and to work with credit unions to increase lending to businesses; *Workwith businesses in the


agricultural, renewableenergy and tourism sectors to identify ways to overcome barriers to increasing the supplyofrural apprenticeships; *Makeuniversal access to


broadband an obligation for providers and to work with Ofcom and networkoperators to investigate the shared provision of infrastructureinrural areas to maximise coverage. William Powell said: “I speak


to manysmall and medium size businesses and they tell me that they feel thatthey arebeing left behind in the economic recovery. The rural economyfaces signifi- cant challenges thaturban areas do often do not encounter. “Wewant to see the Welsh


Government examine howrural SMEs can have better access to finance,moreapprenticeship opportunities and have increased access to the internet. Eluned Parrott added: “It is


vitallyimportant thatall parts of Wales,urban and rural, benefit from the economic recovery.For thattohappen, Wales needs an economic plan which recognises the specific challenges and opportunities in rural areas.”


NEWS JANUARY 2014


Enterprising young trioscoop top prize


By Debbie James


ATEAM of three young Ceredigion farmers has been named as the winner of Farming Connect’s fiercely contested Farmer Enterprise Competition, but it wasn’tjust about winning as all six teams say their knowledge of crop and lamb production has increased significant- ly.


During an awards ceremonyat


the RoyalWelsh Winter Fair, Wales’ Minister forNatural Resources and Food, Alun Davies,revealed thatthe compe- tition had been wonbyDyfan Jones,RhysLewis and Dyfrig Williams,who all


live in


Ceredigion. They were each presented with


an electronic tablet during the ceremonyinthe Lantrabuilding. Although therecould onlybeone winner,all six teams have gained farming knowledge by taking part in the competition. It wasthe first year thatthe


Farmer Enterprise Competition had taken place.Each team was allocated 50 lambs of the same breed and twoacres of land at Fronlas Farm,Coleg Powys, Newtown, with an additional 0.5 acres of runback. The aim wasto finish these lambs through graz- ing aforagecropofeach team’s choice. The competition wasjudged


on anumber of criteria including the cost of production and lamb


CREAM OF THE CROP: Wales’ Minister for Natural Resources and Food, Alun Davies, is pictured with the winning team, the competition judges and representatives of Coleg Powys, Dunbia and Sainsbury’s.


selection. The winning team had scored the highest forcroputili- sation and their planning and management. According to the external com-


petition judges,grassland special- ist, Charlie Morgan, and sheep expert, Catherine Nakielny, the teams had all exhibited attention to detail and sound decisions. And they had in the process


gained abetter understanding of crop production and lamb finish- ing thatwould help them to improvetheir ownfarming busi- nesses.


They had learned thatfinish-


ing lambs offcatch crops could be profitableand thatnutrient planning and providing the right type and volume of fertilisers has areal bearing on returns. “Efficient utilisation of the


crop is paramount to achieving a return on investment and this is what had set the winning team apart from the others,” said Mr Morgan. “The plot achievedtop marks


forcroputilisation with no crop wastage.This team showedawell balanced approach and managed


the process well.” Putting aparasite manage-


ment plan in place wasalso found to dramaticallyimproveperform- ance and reduce lamb finishing times,asworminfections are often hidden. Ms Nakielnypoint- ed out thatreductions in per- formance can occur beforeany clinical signs areseen. Lamb performance,she added,


can be monitored in anumber of ways butusing EID and appro- priate hardwaretomonitor growth rates in ‘real-time’ means thatmanagement changes can be


PICTURE: Debbie James.


implemented immediatelyto improveperformance. The competition proved that


thereisno‘right or wrong’ sys- tem of lamb production. “Comparisons areoften made


of ‘lowinput-lowoutput’ versus ‘high input-high output’ systems butitisinteresting to note that the winning team wasactuallya ‘medium input-medium output’ system,”said Ms Nakielny. All competition lambs were


marketed through Dunbia in Llanybydder and sold Sainsbury’s


STAR RATING: Lawrence


Couzens has launched an


online marketing site.


PICTURE: Debbie James.


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Five-star rating for new online venture


ASECOND-HAND farmmachine that failed to live up to the seller’spromise has prompted aPembrokeshirelivestock and arable farmer to launch anew website that allows customers to rate agricultural suppli- ers.


Lawrence Couzens and his parents bought


the machine from adealer they had little knowledge of. “When it arrivedonthe yard it wasnot as described buttherewas no recompense,” Lawrence explained. Had the Couzens’ had the opportunity to


read feedback from other disgruntled cus- tomers,they would have bought the machine elsewhere. With this in mind, Lawrence has created


Farming Hub -anonline site selling every- thing from machinery and livestock to farm- land and grass seed. Akey featureisanopportunity forbuyers


to give their feedback on the companies list- ed on the site.Suppliers areranked from poor to excellent using astar rating system; users


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


whopost aranking areencouraged to leave an explanatory comment. “It is ameans of making it easier forfarm-


ers and other buyers to buyfromareliable dealer,” Lawrence explained. And it will also encouragesuppliers to


deliverthe best service possible. “It’sanopportunity forcustomers to


shout about those whoare doing agood job,” Lawrence added. Every week the site will highlight the five


dealers whoachieve the highest rating. Lawrence worked on dairy,beef,pig and


arable farms across the UK beforereturning home to the familyfarmatCastlemorris. His entrepreneurial streak spotted the opportunity to diversify into online market- ing.


“Wedeal with suppliers in so manydiffer-


ent aspects of the farmbusiness.The online service -www.farminghub.co.uk -isaone- stop shop thatallows farmers to identify a whole range of services to help them run their businesses,” said Lawrence.


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