IN my very first article in the Free Press when I took on the role as Clwyd county chairman, I noted that from an agricultural perspective, the county of Clwyd covers a vast amount of land that stretches from coastal to mountainous terrain.

Having endured such a contrasting year weather wise, I struggle to remember such a contrast in the county’s landscapes and colour due to the recent rainfall or lack of.

Here at Cae Haidd, we had the lion’s share of rainfall in the last couple of weeks of August and into September, but looking over the hills towards the Clwydian Valley, the area has not enjoyed the same break in the dry spell, and the normally rich pasture land is looking, at best, parched.

This has obviously resulted in very different approaches and scenarios when it comes to grass and forage management across the county.

No matter how robust our farming businesses may be, we cannot predict nor manage many factors that have significant impacts on our financial viability, and this year has been a particular stark example.

Ironically, the situation we are currently witnessing has aided us greatly during the past few weeks when meeting a plethora of AMs and MPs during many agricultural shows of the need for a future agricultural policy to include a ‘volatility’ measure within it to avoid some catastrophic situations that have knock on effects across all farming sectors.

Having recently had the privilege of listening to the NFU’s top economic advisers, there are examples of very good volatility measures and schemes across the globe that we could take as examples and shape to cover our needs here in Wales that would, when called upon, offer some stability to any particular sector adversely affected by factors outside our control.

The only caveat in such a scheme is that it requires support and investment from government to ensure its success, and at the same time, an equal share of the risk we take every day when planting our crops and rearing our stock. Interestingly, none of the politicians we met over the summer months disagreed with such a notion, but it remains to be seen if any of them will have the courage to drive an inclusive policy forward – time will tell.

On a very different note, I had the privilege and pleasure to join over 60 participants in NFU Cymru’s hike and bike challenge at the beginning of the September.

Admittedly, I was only brave enough to partake in the hiking part of the challenge, and could only spare time for the North Wales leg of climbing the peaks of both Snowdon and Cadair Idris, and although gruelling, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and humbling experience.

I have the utmost admiration for the 30 or so participants who also took on the biking challenge in between the three peaks over two days, that included a sterling effort from my Meirionydd counterpart Emlyn Roberts.

It seems that the initial financial fundraising target was smashed, and just goes to demonstrate that even in times of financial and physical challenges, as an industry we dig deep and muck in.

PAUL WILLIAMS

NFU Cymru Clwyd county chairman