August has come and gone and it has been a busy month for us all. Despite not having the usual wealth of local shows to attend, we have been working hard in ensuring that our members’ voices were heard loud and clear by politicians, decision makers and the public too, writes Bryn Francis of the FUW.

Our county office and members have been hosting farm visits with local politicians addressing the most critical issues our industry is facing.

The conversation around climate change is picking up pace; hardly surprising with the United Nations Food Systems Summit and COP26 on the horizon. We also read the latest IPCC report with dread and it has confirmed what farmers across Wales (indeed, the world) are already experiencing on the front line of climate change.

This will not only have an impact on farming businesses and family farms, but on the ability of farmers to continue feeding the world’s growing population and maintaining food security, whilst simultaneously reducing the 10 per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions which come from agriculture.

The UK and Welsh Governments have a key role to play in better supporting our farmers to deliver against various efficiency, biodiversity and sustainability goals which will help the country achieve Net Zero.

When it comes to carbon trading, members have hopefully seen our recent call for discussions on the merits and drawbacks of limiting the amount of carbon credits that can be sold from Welsh land, carbon trading quotas and other approaches that might be applied in Wales. This complex issue will be discussed at your county executive committee and in a special meeting of committee chairmen and the presidential policy team.

With this in mind and on a final note this week, if members have any thoughts on this issue please let us in the county office know so that it can be properly discussed at our next meeting.