Farming
Lambing Live star hails social media
LAMBING has either already started, or fast approaching, on farms up and down the country, but how many farmers would agree to being constantly watched by a film crew of 70 people, having millions of pounds worth of satellite trucks parked taking over all the yard – and a catering tent serving food all day and night long?
“Well the food tent was certainly a bonus!” explained Kate Beavan, the star of the first ever Lambing Live series on the BBC, when she addressed a large crowd of NFU Cymru members at the Glamorgan Annual Conference earlier this week.
Up until five years ago, Kate and Jim Beavan with their family, farmed quietly in a 300 acre traditional mixed farm near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. The entire family exploded onto our TV screens in March 2010 and Kate in particular has had a successful spell in the media ever since, doing short films for the BBC’s One Show as their resident farmer, and presenting Channel 4’s Crufts, whilst continuing to farm at Great Tre-Rhew.
Kate explained, “We weren’t sure how the programme would be received, especially as it was the first ‘live’ programme on TV. Nothing had been done like this before. We were particularly nervous that consumers wouldn’t like seeing their ‘food being born’. The response we got was phenomenal however, we had boxes of letters and hundreds of emails of support after the series ended.”
Abi Reader, NFU Cymru Glamorgan County Chairman, congratulated Kate and Jim Beavan on the superb work they have done as ambassadors for the farming industry in the UK. She said, “We all have to take some responsibility in marketing the work we do to the wider public and Kate has shown how that is possible. Kate and I actually met through Twitter and I believe that social media is an extremely powerful method of getting our message out there about how we produce the nation’s food and drink.”
Abi continued, “Social media is the only way, I know, how you can talk directly to politicians, decision makers, even celebrities and use it to promote your business and the farming industry as a whole. Not only that, we all know that farming can be a lonely occupation but social media makes you feel like you’re part of a worldwide community.”
Kate went on to explain to the large crowd present that having no mobile reception meant communications were difficult at the home farm, in Monmouthshire, however, she is a huge fan of twitter and now uses it to promote her new diversification – Kate’s Country School. With a zero marketing budget, Kate uses social media and the internet to promote her courses, including lambing, cider making, wildlife identification and animal husbandry. “The power of social media and the internet means we have visitors from all over the world coming to Great Tre-Rhiw to do the courses.”
John Davies, NFU Cymru’s Deputy President thanked Kate and Jim Beavan for being such good ambassadors for the farming industry in Wales. He gave high praise indeed when he explained his father would sneak off from their own lambing shed at home, five years ago, in order to watch the Beavan family on ‘Lambing Live’. John also thanked HSBC for their generous sponsorship of the annual conference held in the Grove Golf Club, Cornelly.
Farming
Value of hedges in storing carbon below ground studied in soil project

THE ROLE hedges play in capturing carbon and storing it in soils is being investigated as Farming Connect gathers soil samples from across Wales in an initiative that will provide important benchmarking data for farmers.
Data collection for the second year of the Welsh Soil Project is underway, and this time soil samples have also been taken from land within a metre from field hedges, in addition to within-field samples.
Dr Non Williams, Farming Connect’s Carbon Specialist Officer, said the aim is to compare soil carbon stocks within fields and under woody vegetation.
“We often get questions from farmers about this, and we hope that the results of this project will provide them with the answers,’’ she said.
“Estimating the soil carbon levels by hedges will help to highlight their importance for climate change mitigation.’’
Farmers have a key role to play in tackling climate change and soils can play an important part in that.
The Welsh Soil Project samples are being analysed ahead of Wales Climate Week in December.
Over 1,000 samples were taken from farms that are a part of Farming Connect’s Our Farms Network, which were then analysed for organic matter content and bulk density, as well as other measurements.
For uniformity, all samples were collected within the same period this autumn and from grass fields including permanent pasture, hay and silage fields, and reseeds.
“This project looks at how varying management intensities, along with geographical factors, are impacting soil carbon stocks across Wales.”
Soil was taken from multiple depths, from the top 10cm layer to a depth of 50cm.
Dr Williams, who is leading the project, is a speaker at a major soil science event in Belfast in December.
At the British Society of Soil Science and the Soil Science Society of Ireland Annual Conference, she will deliver a presentation on the preliminary results of the project.
Soil carbon and carbon in general are also themes at three Farming Connect Masterclasses taking place in February 2024.
Dr Williams, who will lead these workshops, said it will give farmers an opportunity to improve their understanding of the basics of carbon footprinting prior to carrying out a carbon audit for their farms.
“These interactive workshops will focus on breaking down the carbon jargon, allow farmers to learn about the significance of the carbon cycle to their farm, and how it can be influenced to help reduce the farm’s carbon footprint in the future,’’ she said.
The events will take place at Llety Cynin, St Clears, Carmarthenshire, on 6 February, at Elephant and Castle, Newtown, on 8 February, and at Nanhoron Arms Hotel, Nefyn on 20 February, all from 7.30pm to 9pm.
Further details on how to book a place can be found on the Farming Connect website.
Farming
Time to ‘protect Welsh farming from the Welsh Government’ – Gwlad Gwlad

GWYN WIGLEY EVANS, leader of Gwlad Gwlad, the Welsh Independence Party that believes in a working economy (www.gwlad.org) has spoken out on the threat not just to Welsh farming but the lives of Welsh farmers posed by the Welsh Government’s new Habitat Wales scheme.
Gwyn Wigley Evans explained the impact of the scheme: “The Welsh Government’s new scheme will reduce farmers to badly paid environmental managers. It is equivalent to planting trees on rugby pitches and still expecting games of rugby. The former farmers will see incomes fall by 50 to 90%. Each family farm supports 7 businesses within 20 miles. They can all expect massive reductions.”
Gwyn Evans has direct engagement with the social impact of difficulties in rural communities. He has been a Samaritan and CRUSE (Bereavement Counselling) counsellor for 23 years. Addressing his remarks to Lesley Griffiths, the Welsh Government Rural Affairs Minister, he pointed out “This policy will leave blood on the Welsh Government’s hands. The Samaritans, DPJ, Tir Dewi are going to be busy. This policy will pull the trigger on the guns. The effects of the Habitat Wales scheme will clear the environment of people as deliberately as the Highland Clearances.”
When addressing actions to follow he said “Plaid Cymru is no use to Welsh Farmers. They support Mark Drakeford’s Rural Affairs policies meeting the goals of London Labour environmentalists not Welsh Farmers. Gwlad Gwlad will hold a meeting at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells on 27 November 2023 to focus on how to resist the worst impacts of the Habitat Wales scheme.Exports of Food and Drink were worth £797m to the Welsh economy in 2022 and are growing faster than the UK as a whole.
The world is full of small countries which have powered ahead, economically and socially, since achieving their independence. Gwlad Gwlad believes that Wales should be one of them: a prosperous, successful independent country enjoying good relations with its neighbours and comfortable in its own skin.
Farming
Leader of Welsh Lib Dems visits Carmarthenshire farm to highlight farmers concerns

LAST WEEK (Nov 16) the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS visited Blaencennan farm in Llangadog to highlight issues affecting common land farmers in Wales.
During the visit, the following issues were raised:
-Concerns around the Habitat Wales Scheme.
-The importance of Welsh communities and the Welsh language and how the farming industry ties into that.
-The willingness of farmers to diversify their businesses.
-Commonland farming being included in the Universal payments in the Sustainable Farming Scheme.
-Ensuring that land is being farmed and not just being left, with non-grazed dry land presenting a potential fire risk.
Mrs Dodds also welcomed on the visit the Rural Affairs Minister for Wales Lesley Griffiths MS, as well as representatives from the National Farmers Union.
Commenting, Jane Dodds MS said: “It was a pleasure to visit Blaencennan farm today alongside the Minister Lesley Griffiths MS and representatives from the National Farmers Union.
Many farmers across Wales are being faced with an uncertain future and they desperately need our support.
My hope from this visit is that the concerns of the farming community are listened to and acted upon.
The Habitat Wales scheme is laden with pitfalls caused by incorrect mapping of farmland areas and a considerable low compensation offer to farmers that will leave them worse off.
If we are going to be serious about the creation of a sustainable farming model, then it is vital that we fix these errors before the scheme is launched.
It is clear to see that farmers want to do the right thing by helping the environment and by working together we can bring a brighter and greener future for Wales.”
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