page 18_Layout 1 26/08/2020 12:25 Page 18 18 FUW NEWS / NEWS


Welsh Government’s Clean Air Plan must not betray farmers


THE FUWhas responded with concernto the recently launched Welsh Government CleanAir Plan, stating that it mu st not betray farmers. The plan, launched last month, aims to improve air qu ality


and redu ce the impacts of air pollu tiononhumanhealth, biodiversity, the natu ral environment and the economy by working jointly across sectors to pu t inplace evidenced based policy, legislation, regu lations and investment to redu ce air pollu tioninline with international air qu ality standards. Fu rthermore, theWelsh Government stated it will


introdu ce a new law to tackle agricu ltu ral pollu tionby in effect introdu cing EU Nitrate Vu lnerable Zone (NVZ) legislationfor the whole ofWales, as well as a National Minimum Standards based onthe verifiable standards in Cross Compliance. Responding to the announcement, FUWPresident Glyn


Roberts said: “As farmers we take the state of ou r environment very seriou sly. It affects everything we do and it is inou r interest to work together with Governments and others to achieve the best possible standards.Whilst this planis focu ssed inthe mainonu rbanareas, where the worst pollu tionby far exists, the elements relating to ou r ru ral areas wou ld infact undermine the good work that is already being done by ou r farmers while also devastating bu sinesses. “By referring to the introdu ctionof anall‐Wales NVZ inthe paper theWelsh Government is once againfailing to respect


“By referri ng to the i dence and thei ntroducti


Welsh Government i evi


Helpi thei


r own advi ng cli r hi s once agai


the scientific evidence and their ownadvisors, while also ignoring the drastic and devastating impacts onbu sinesses and families su ch draconianand disproportionate measu res wou ld have.


“They’re also failing to take account of the evidence of


detrimental or negligible impacts from other NVZ areas,” he added.


The draft legislation, if introdu ced, wou ld designate the


whole ofWales as anNVZ, anarea more thanforty times bigger thanthe cu rrentWelsh NVZ area, and eleventimes bigger thanwhat was recommended by Natu ral Resou rces Wales (NRW) ‐ theWelsh Government’s ownofficial advisors.


“Giventhe severe warnings of NRWand expected crippling


costs forWales’ farming indu stry that wou ld runinto hundreds of millions, and the extreme uncertainty du e to coronaviru s and Brexit, this proposal is wrong and warrants a comprehensive impact assessment soMinisters, politicians and their constitu ent cantru ly gau ge the likely impacts.


“Inaddition, the introdu ctionof the Cross Compliance


Verifiable Standards into NationalMinimum Standards ‐ a fu tu re regu latory baseline, needs to be givenmu ch more thou ght interms of su itability for the indu stry as there are seriou s concerns abou t how ou r farmers will absorb the costs if the Basic Payment Scheme is phased ou t,” added Mr Roberts.


on of an all-Wales NVZ i n faili


sors.” ents get on top of dden costs


LOCKDOWN has meant different things to different people and for some it has meant anopportunity to take a fresh look at life and bu siness. Llandeilo based vet, Dr Sotirios Karvountzis ofMendip Vets, (p ictured right), said life became bu sier, bu t the banon preventative visits gave him time to review and research ongoing problems. Dairy farmers su bmit produ ction, clinical and other


data to variou s specialised websites as part of their milk contract. Lockdownmeant that, inthe downtime betweencall ou ts, Sotirios had the chance to stu dy the data and pu rsu e his interest ineradicating ‘hidden costs’. He analysed farm performance, while reviewing their


su bmitted data. It meant he was able to establish commonthemes and to come u p with some answers to the ‘hiddencosts’ borne by so many herds. He explained: “I wanted to help clients get ontop of


their hiddencosts. They canbe whencows calve, how many retaintheir foetal membranes.Whenthe cows calve, how many cows get ketosis ‐ a type of diabetes that cows get whenthey calve, so making su gar unavailable for the first few weeks before they get over it. Thenhow many cows they get with mastitis. “Is the herd at risk of infectiou s disease, su ch as IBR,


BVD, Leptospirosis, Liver Flu ke and Neospora? Or even, is the offspring robu st enou gh, what is the incidence of mastitis, lameness or tu bercu losis betweenvariou s genetic lines onthe farm? “So let’s say they’re getting 5% of their cows with


retained foetal membranes, or they get 4% of their cows with ketosis, or 35% mastitis. If we manage to redu ce that by 2% with retained foetal membranes, half of it almost, there’s instantly a minimum £2,000 a year saving ina 300/400 cow herd. “If you go to mastitis and you drop it from 35% down


to 20%, it still sounds a lot bu t it’s a massive improvement and you ’re looking at anapproximate £12,000 a year saving for the same 300/400 cow herd.” And becau se the variou s conditions, foetal membrane retention, ketosis, mastitis, have a defined number of


cau ses, we canmake a start inou r investigation. Some of the commonest cau ses canbe anincorrect transition diet, milk fever after calving or, inthe case of mastitis, we start with the milking parlou r, thenthe milking rou tine or the environment.


Sotirios added: “I don’t want to over simplify a


complex situ ation, bu t u su ally there are a number of areas that, if you ru le them ou t, theninmy experience there is a good chance of redu cing the problem.


“So the extra time du ring Lockdownallowed me to


u se it produ ctively. I appraised performance, looked at hiddencosts and thenstarted discu ssions over the phone or teleconference. It’s incredible how the teleconferencing technology has come su ch a long way.


“I had discu ssions with clients and showed graphs to


say where we are and why we are there, giving a few possible reasons. ThenI su ggested visiting the farms and taking a closer look at those once restrictions were eased.


“The redu ctioninthe time that milking takes can


have wide reaching consequ ences, inclu ding a redu ctioninthe incidence of lameness. This shou ld be cou pled with helping them select the most su itable bu lls that combine the most appropriate produ ction, management and type traits with the likelihood of redu cing lameness and overall disease intheir offspring.


“It canalso meanhaving a conversationwith the


owners abou t monitoring infectiou s and parasitic disease inthe herd, throu gh ordering appropriate bu lk tank milk samples, all by the click of a bu ttonand withou t u s having to visit the farm initially.


“All these hiddencosts canbe there and the farmer


aware of them. Bu t really you don’t know where to start unless you have the data and the research.”


Sotirios says the savings meanthat su ddenly there is


thenmoney released for other investment onthe farm. A simple backing gate, for instance, the gate that gently pu shes cows towards the parlou r frees u p time for the milker.


Mendip Veterinary Services Ltd. 6 King Street Llandeilo


Camarthenshire SA19 6BA


01761 842222


https://mendipvets.net @mendipvets


ng to respect the sci


n the paper the enticfi


What i s the BeefQ proj ect?


THE BeefQ ‐ Beef Eating Qu ality project, funded throu gh theWelsh Government Ru ral Communities ‐ Ru ral Development Fund Programme 2014‐2020, will increase the eating qu ality and valu e ofWelsh Beef produ ction throu gh the testing and demonstrationof anenhanced carcase qu ality grading system based ontheMeat Standards Au stralia (MSA) model.


The project is pre‐competitive, and the project team of


IBERS, Aberystwyth University (coordinating); Qu eens University Belfast; Hybu Cig Cymru ‐Meat Promotion Wales (HCC);Menter a Bu snes; Celtica Foods Ltd and Birkenwood International (Au stralia), are working closely with PGI certified Welsh Beef processors and wider indu stry stakeholders to ensu re indu stry ready ou tpu ts. These ou tpu ts inclu de:


1. A BeefQ carcase eating qu ality grading system based on the Au stralianMSA model, validated for PGIWelsh Beef.


2. Carcase eating qu ality grader training so that a pool of grading expertise exists inWales.


3. A prototype web‐based system for sharing and benchmarking carcase eating qu ality grading data between processors and produ cers.


4. Anagreed indu stry strategy for taking the carcase eating qu ality grading system forward inWales post BeefQ.


To learnmore abou t the BeefQ project please go to the BeefQ project website www.beefq.wales where you can also register to receive the newsletter. You canalso follow u s onTwitter@BeefQWales


Y TIR


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