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OVER 400 YFC members travelled to the Royal Welsh Showground oninMarch to take part inthe Wales YFC Festival of Pu blic Speaking. Following a fu ll day of competing the Carmarthenshire


Federationwere the overallwinners of theWelsh langu age competitions and the Ceredigion Federation were the overall winners inthe English langu age section. There were experienced ju dges from all walks of life


adju dicating in the variou s competitions inclu ding jou rnalists Beti George and Garry Owen, bu siness owner KathrynJones from Castell Howell, solicitor KevinThomas and past competitions chairmanand teacher Aled Johnson. ElenWilliams, Wales YFC’s competitions chairmansaid:


“Itwas a privilege towitness su ch awealth of talent. Young people throu gh the competitions on offer had the opportunity to develop their presentationand speaking skills, which will be of valu e to them throu ghou t their lives and its obviou s that they appreciate the skill of speaking well inpu blic. “Onbehalf of the federation, I wou ld like to extend my


thanks to all ju dges, stewards, trainers and su pporterswho helped make the event a great su ccess.”


All aboard - Sailing ch alleng e!


NINE junior members from across the counties ofWales YFC have beenselected for the Challenge Wales opportunity running this year throu gh Wales YFC’s International Programme. A exhilirthating opportunity to sail from Gosport inthe sou th of England all the way round to Cardiff inAu gu st.


CatrinRees, Huw Jones and MarianJones fromCeredigion,


EifionDavies from Radnor, Deio Owenfrom Eryri, Jessica Balfou r, Rhodri Lewis and Joshu a Davies fromPembrokeshire and Sara Williams from Clwyd will be raising anchor onthis memorable trip provided by the Charity ChallengeWales.


The voyage’s ou tcomes are to offer anexciting experience


for young people and one that will broadentheir horizons, develop their personal and social skills and improve their prospects for the fu tu re.


The grou p will be involved inall aspects of sailing the boat


ina safe bu t challenging environment inclu ding steering, working the sails, food preperations and keeping the hou se inorder.


International chairmanAngharad Edwards said: “This is an


incredible opportunity and we are delighted to offer ou r junior members the opportunity to travel as part of the international programme.”


by DrWilliam Stiles, Farming Connect Knowledge Exchange Hu b, IBERS, Aberystwyth University


INCREASING biodiversity infarmland is a major challenge and opportunity for the farming indu stry, which can offer benefits in terms of redu cing environmental impact and improving pu blic perceptions of


agricu ltu re. Whilst


biodiversity conservation is extremely important, this mu st be balanced against the needs of farm bu sinesses and the requ irements for food produ ctionto ensu re food secu rity. Evidence exists for the potential of species‐rich grasslands to delivermu ltiple benefits to the farmer, su ch as redu ced inpu t of expensive materials su ch as fertilisers, whilst simu ltaneou sly providing the foundation for a more biodiverse ecosystem. Experiments have shown that rates of


“The case for reducing the need for fertiliser usag e, by increasing g rassland plant


species richness, is intrig uing . This approach could


produ ctivity ingrassland systems and plant species richness are positively related. When comparing sets of sown grassland plots with different amounts of species, yield has beendemonstrated to be higher in species rich grasslands thaninspecies poor, and that this effect remained consistent in the long term (eight years). In one stu dy comparing produ ctivity in grassland managed


potentially improve farm business


efficiency whilst increasing


biodiversity.”


either as high‐diversity (of plants) with low‐inpu t (of fertiliser) or as high‐inpu t low‐diversity, yield was observed to increase as a


resu lt of higher plant diversity, which served to offset any yield gains from fertiliser inpu t, resu lting insimilar yields from either system. This positive effect onyield as a consequ ence of the amount of different plant species, has beenattribu ted to the influ ence of resou rce partitioning, both above and below ground, which is where different growth forms allow for better u sage of resou rces su ch as light or nu trients. This canallow plants to u tilise resou rces


that a neighbou ring plant is unable to captu re (i.e. by having roots at different soil depths, which u tilise nu trients at different levels in the soil profile) redu cing the impact of competition. This is referred to as ‘niche complementarity’, where there are positive interactions amongst species by virtu e of having numerou s different plant species from a wide range of life histories. In addition, the architectu re of more


complex plant communities, again both above and below ground, canalso allow for greater density of vegetation as a consequ ence of the different growth forms being able to live inmore close proximity, meaning more physical biomass.


The case for redu cing theneed for fertiliser u sage, by increasing


grassland plant species richness, is intrigu ing. This approach cou ld potentially improve farm bu siness efficiency whilst increasing biodiversity.


YOUNG FARMERS/NEWS YFC members talk fo


Y TIR r Wales


Carmarthen YFC chairman Carys Thomas with the Welsh Langu age Pu blic Speaking shield.


CeredigionYFC chairmanCaryl Haf Jones with the English Pu blic Speaking Overall shield.


Canyou redu ce fertiliser requ irement by increasing th e diversity of plants ing rassland?


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