UNBELIEVABLY, half the year has gone, and we are once again well into the show season.

This year, our local Llanrwst show has been moved to the last Saturday in June, rather than mid-August, as well as a new temporary venue to make way for the visiting National Eisteddfod, held during the first week in August.

As with many local shows, the Llanrwst Rural Show is a highlight in the area, and an event that both the agricultural and local town community enjoy.

To its credit, it brings together members of both communities to work together to organise and ensure the show’s success and continuation.

I was very disappointed in my failure to attend NFU Cymru’s inaugural Sustainable Agriculture: Food Farming and the Environment Conference, hosted by our president John Davies at Pentre farm in Merthyr Cynog.

A four-day trip down to the Urdd Eisteddfod in Cardiff fulfilling my paternal duties the previous week had meant a congested workload for the following seven days.

Nevertheless, the conference seemed to be a huge success and a very timely event given all the multi streamed media ‘noise’ hitting the headlines these days – often finger wagging at our industry with all sorts of accusations and ill-informed opinions.

The conference coincided with the launch of the union’s Sustainable Agriculture Report, titled Sustainable Agriculture: Food Farming and the Environment, which is an excellent document full of useful facts (yes FACTS!) and case studies from individual members, outlining the ongoing work our industry fulfils in working alongside our natural resources on a daily basis, as well as emphasising our commitments and will to further enhance the strongest natural assets we have here in Wales.

Here, at Cae Haidd, we fully appreciate the natural resources on our farm as all our water is sourced naturally, and we make full use of the constant wind we have by generating enough electricity, via a small 20Kw turbine, to fulfil all our energy requirements and export enough surplus electricity to annually power roughly eight domestic households.

We also store a lot of carbon in our peat bogs as well as our grassland, trees and hedgerows – all of this whilst still farming the land and producing livestock.

I have absolutely no doubt that, as farmers, we hold the key to help unlock our nation’s aspirations for a healthy and more sustainable environment – all we need is the will, vision and commitment to our industry both publicly and politically, and we will as always deliver.

PAUL WILLIAMS

NFU Cymru Clwyd county chairman