The meeting was held at Ruthin Farmers’ Auction on Tuesday 7 January and saw a strong crowd of farmers in attendance to hear from Professor Williams, a livestock farmer and lecturer at Bangor University.
Professor Williams’ work also sees him acting as Farm Manager for Bangor University’s Henfaes Research Centre, where he detailed work in a number of key areas including the measuring of greenhouse gas emissions, soil science, nutrient utilisation, crop breeding, agro-forestry and the impacts of severe weather. He told the audience that farming’s mission to be more climate friendly was best served by exploring ways to reduce emissions, increasing off-setting and capitalising on the learnings of others in order to further improve efficiencies. Professor Williams highlighted that while farming was a source of greenhouse gas emissions, the industry was also uniquely placed to sequester carbon through soils, trees, hedgerows and peatland. With growing consumer interest in the carbon footprint of the food they eat, as well as global companies’ efforts be net zero, Professor Williams encouraged farmers to consider the actions they can take to improve on-farm efficiencies, citing the overwhelming link between lowering emissions and profitability.
Clwyd farmers highlighted
The meeting had earlier seen NFU Cymru Clwyd County Chairman David Williams provide members with a summary of local lobbying throughout 2024. The meeting commended the work of local Clwyd members Paul Williams and Llŷr Jones, who had instigated the NFU Cymru the display of 5,500 wellies at the Senedd last year to show the impact of Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals at the time. During the meeting, Paul Williams was awarded the NFU Cymru Clwyd Dafydd Jones Memorial Award in recognition of his contribution to agriculture in the county and across Wales. Congratulations were also given to NFU Cymru Clwyd member Matthew Roberts, who had received the NFU Cymru/NFU Mutual Livestock Champion of the Year Award at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair.
NFU Cymru officeholder update
NFU Cymru Deputy President Abi Reader also addressed members on the union’s current lobbying priorities. In particular, Ms Reader discussed NFU Cymru’s ongoing work on the Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation, thanking the many thousands of members who had responded to the consultation via the union’s online portal. She added that while it was important to note the progress that has been made in the development of the scheme over the past year, there remained a lot of work to do on the detail of the scheme and farmers still did not have information about payment rates for the programme.
Ms Reader also addressed UK Government’s proposed changes to inheritance tax rules that would have a severe detrimental effect on farm businesses, causing a high level of concern within rural communities. She stated that NFU Cymru, working with its counterparts in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, were united in their lobbying to MPs to halt the controversial tax.
NFU Cymru Clwyd County Chairman David Williams said: “We are grateful to Professor Prysor Williams for attending our county conference this year. It is testament to the esteem in which he is held that we had a bumper turnout for the meeting, with farmers braving the icy roads and sub-zero conditions to hear from Professor Williams. It was an insightful evening and all members left with plenty to consider about the role their farm can play in helping the industry meet its net zero 2040 goal.”