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Farmin bu sin


FUW NEWS/L ETTER g co les’ n up ess saves abatto


TWO North Wales farming families have launched their ownmeat bu siness, and inthe process have safegu arded the fu tu re of Snowdonia’s last abattoir.


FUW members Tesni and Dafydd WynJones,


who farmnear Trawsfynydd, have joined forces with friends and neighbou rs, Dewi and Megan Williams, also FUW members, to create Cig Eryri (Snowdonia Meat), ina bid to create a broader market for their lamb and beef.


The impetu s for the bu siness came whenthe


opportunity arose to take over their local abattoir, a move which wou ld give them the chance to take control of the whole process ‐ from farm to plate.


The Cae Iago abattoir, which is situ ated


betweenTrawsfynydd and Blaenau Ffestiniog, closed last Christmas whenthe owner Evan Roberts retired. That meant the nearest slau ghtering facilities wou ld be inCorwenor Llanrwst.


“We u su ally take some lambs to Cae Iago, and


Evantold me he was planning to retire,” says Tesni. “I didn’t like the thou ght of the local abattoir closing down, as it is the only one in the Snowdonia National Park. Dafydd and I got chatting with Dewi and Megan, and we decided to go for it.”


With Evanas a mentor and the services of a


local bu tcher, Cig Eryri will process and sell the Jones’ and Williams’ lamb and beef, which will be sold mail order via the soonto be launched Cig Eryri / SnowdoniaMeatwebsite and at local retailers. The added bonu s being local farms


Y TIR


ew meat ir


will still be able to enjoy the services of a local abattoir.


Dewi said: “It won’t ju st operate for Cig Eryri,


keeping the abattoir going will be for other people to sell their produ ce as well ‐ it will provide a community service too.”


Tesni adds: “We want to keep the carbon


footprint betweenfarm, abattoir and shop as small as possible, and we’re talking with retailers who are keento u se local Snowdonia lamb. Hopefu lly, thingswill progress as Cig Eryri we can bu y‐in local meat too, and offer additional services at the abattoir su ch as matu ring beef and meat packaging service.”


Mu ch planning and technical cou rses have


followed, inclu ding help from CywainaMenter a Bu snes delivered project that su pports the development of growth orientated bu sinesses inthe food and drink sector inWales.


Tesni said: “Throu gh Cywainwe have had


help with mentoring, ou r packaging and branding, and they introdu ced u s to the Food Technology Centre inLlangefni where we’ve been helped to achieve the necessary food safety and HACCP standards.”


It has beena change indirectionfor both


families, whose diversification projects until now had predominantly beenbased around land skills,with Dafydd undertaking fencing and forestry work, and Dewi stonewalling.Meganis a su pport worker, while Tesni works part‐time at the farmers’ mart inDolgellau and also runs a sheep trekking enterprise ‐ Sheep Walk Snowdonia ‐ with her dau ghter Lois, featu ring their small flock of pedigree Zwartbles sheep.


LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor,


I refer to you r press release onenvironmental bodies giving advice that has led to a fall in cu rlews and other species. Onthe hills around ou r farmnear Abergavenny, for some years we have beeninundated with


bu zzards, kites, crows and magpies. Onou rs and neighbou ring farms these are responsible for raiding nests and killing numbers of smaller wildlife and birds, and of cou rse lambs. These birds, as well as badgers, are also decimating the food su pply for smaller species, also


with damaging resu lts. The other day, I saw three red kites killing a domestic cat from a hou se adjoining the farm.


They su bsequ ently ate it. Never inmy seventy odd years have I seenanything like this before. Du ringmy you th,many localmenwou ld go shooting crows and rooks at weekends. This kept


NEWLY LAUNCHED CIG ERYRI (SNOWDONIA MEAT): From left, Megan and DewiWilliams with Dafydd and TesniWyn Jones.


numbers under control. Few around here shoots crows or magpies any more. WhenIwas young,most farms had a pair or two ofmagpies, and inthosenumbers they didn’t


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do mu ch damage. The other day I counted fifteenmagpies inone tree. Du ring lambing I have regu larlynoted aweakly lamb whilst going downthe fields, and made anote to take it u p to the hou se onmy way back u p. Inevitably, twenty minu tes later I find the lamb dead, with its eyes gone. The actionof the magpies taking the eyes kills the lamb immediately. However, I have seenolder lambs down, bu t alive, with one eye gone. Inevitably the cu lprit is amagpie or crow, and these birds, innumbers, also carry disease to wildlife and farm stock. Local farmers have told me inunionmeetings inrecent years that ravens inthis area have


waited for a ewe to start lambing, and the moment the feet appear, they pu ll the lamb ou t of the ewe and make off with it, u su ally cau sing damage to the ewe as well as to the farmer. Losses of lambs and domestic pou ltry have dramatically increased since fox hunting was


banned. Ou r chickens are free range, and we didn’t lose a henfor twelve years. As soonas hunting was banned we started losing birds, and this has continu ed ever since. Protesters objected to hunting as class war and onthe basis of cru elty. As farmers, the biggest effect of traditional hunting appeared to be the deterrent effect to foxes, rather thanthe limited numbers of foxes killed by hounds. The fox is a cheeky predator, and if it is kept cau tiou s ofman we lose less chickens. The ill considered re‐wilding proposals inmid Wales and other areas wou ld discou rage large


numbers of the pu blic fromvisiting the hills. Inaddition, districts su bject to re‐wilding will have to be secu rely fenced, otherwise, lynx and other predators will escape and breed, as has happened with wild boar inthe Forest of Dean. Su ffice to say, ill advised countryside agencies have protected to variou s degrees several


species of killers, su ch as badgers and kites. Unfortunately, once the species has beensaved, they have failed to remove the protection, with disastrou s resu lts to natu re as a whole as well as to farming. For these people to su bsequ ently blame farmers for the damage for which they are partly or


largely responsible has the potential to cau se fu rther immense damage. They have set themselves u p as experts, whereas infact they are inmany cases gu ilty of ill advised meddling with the natu re they profess to love.


You rs faithfu lly Chris Jones, Gwent FUW.


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