OCTOBER was an intensely busy period for myself and my fellow county officeholders here in Clwyd, as we made a final concerted push to highlight our concerns regarding the Welsh Government’s ‘Brexit and Our Land’ consultation document.

By the final day of the consultation period on October 30, I had hosted three opposition AMs here at Cae Haidd, with a further meeting at Llysfasi with another, and along with other meetings across the county with my fellow county delegates a total of seven Assembly Members were lobbied.

I must thank my officeholder team for their time and effort in achieving this great effort, as well as all of the politicians met – although varied in discussions, I can confidently state that all were articulate in their opinions, and, importantly most were absolute in their understanding of the vital role the farming industry has on the Welsh rural economy, language and culture.

Given that the whole reason for this hive of activity is Brexit and our consequent exit from both the EU and the Common Agriculture Policy, it was fitting and timely that as a county we had the honour and privilege of welcoming Sir Henry Plumb, Lord Plumb of Coleshill as our main guest speaker at our centenary celebration dinner at the end of the month.

At the learned age of 94, this gentleman’s mind is as sharp as ever, and an audience of over 100 members sat in absolute silence and hung on to every word he spoke during his address.

Without doubt, having the opportunity to share a table and thoughts with Lord Plumb throughout the evening ranks amongst the proudest moments of my time with NFU Cymru.

During our conversations over dinner, and mindful that he was the NFU president that enthusiastically led us into the EU in 1973, I asked Lord Plumb what his thoughts were amidst the current fanfare of Brexit.

No sooner had I asked the question, he placed his knife and fork down on his plate, and his head bowed.

He noted that he was extremely saddened by the referendum result and the events that now ensued, and poignantly questioned if he had ‘wasted’ 30 years of his life in seeking a better deal for his industry amidst stern opposition from both sides of the English Channel.

Worried that I had touched a significant nerve in asking the question, I could only humbly offer him my thoughts that, whatever the future holds for us going forward, no-one can ever change the chapters of history, and that he would be eternally etched into a chapter of history that demonstrated our industry could lead by example by way of innovation and production amongst our European counterparts.

Anecdotally, whilst celebrating our centenary year as a county, the NFU was founded in the wake of the increasing threat of trade liberalisation and cheap foreign imports amongst what was becoming a ‘smaller world’ internationally, coupled with a lack of government recognition of the cost of food production.

Now, 100 years on, I sincerely hope that history isn’t repeating itself.

This is my final column as Clwyd county chairman as my chairmanship comes to an end.

It has been an absolute privilege and honour to represent the Clwyd membership during the last two years and my gratitude goes to all who have helped me along the way.

A special thanks must go to the county’s officeholder team who have kept me on the ‘straight and narrow’ and may I also wish the very best to Dafydd Jones, Pencoed Ucha, our new county chairman, and his team for the future.

PAUL WILLIAMS

NFU Cymru Clwyd county chairman