WELSH lamb was on the table for discussion at a local county union conference.

NFU Cymru Clwyd members have been given an insight into the Welsh red meat levy board’s work to enhance consumers’ PGI Welsh Lamb taste experience.

Guest speaker at the recent NFU Cymru Clwyd county conference was Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) / Meat Promotion Wales’ red meat development officer Elizabeth Swancott.

She provided members with a detailed overview of the Welsh Lamb Meat Quality project’s work investigating how on-farm and processing factors influence the eating and nutritional quality of PGI Welsh Lamb.

Ms Swancott explained to the members gathered at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi that the project used a number of key attributes to measure and assess the eating quality of PGI Welsh Lamb: visual appearance, juiciness, tenderness, flavour, aroma, ethical quality, yield and nutritional quality.

She said: “The main component of the project is through consumer taste panels, to understand the consumers’ perception towards the lamb meat we’re testing.

"Across the four trials years, annually we go to three city locations in the UK, where 480 consumer taste test panellists each taste test seven meat samples.

"Each consumer rates the lamb meat on tenderness, juiciness, flavour, aroma and overall liking, as well as giving an indication of what they’d be prepared to pay for that lamb product.

“We also use these taste panels as a platform to promote red meat to consumers.

"After they’ve tasted their seven samples of lamb a member of the HCC marketing team talks to these consumers about the benefits of eating red meat, its nutritional values, how to cook and prepare meat, as well as how lamb and beef is reared here in Wales.

"The consumers are also given a goodie bag which is filled with additional information on the nutritional benefits of eating lamb, how to prepare and cook lamb with recipe cards, as well as additional information as to where they can source lamb and beef that has been produced in Wales.”

After the presentation, Ms Swancott was joined by HCC’s industry development and relations manager John Richards for an in-depth question-and-answer session with members.

The Welsh Lamb Meat Quality project is part of HCC’s Red Meat Development Programme, a five-year programme funded by the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Welsh Government.

The meeting also heard from newly-elected NFU Cymru president Aled Jones, who praised HCC for its work on ‘The Welsh Way’ paper, which he said had provided Welsh farmers with the scientific evidence to support the sector’s healthy and sustainable image.

During his address to the meeting, Mr Jones also encouraged Clwyd county members to embrace opportunities to engage with younger members and encourage them to play a greater part in the union’s work.

On this note, he urged farmers to promote nominations for the NFU Cymru next generation group before the application deadline at the end of February.

Following the meeting, NFU Cymru Clwyd county chairman Dewi Jones said: “I’d like to thank Elizabeth and John from HCC for attending our county conference.

"It was encouraging to note from tonight’s meeting that important dialogue between levy payers and HCC has been able to continue over the last two years, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.

"Nevertheless, it’s great to have the free-flowing discussion we saw with NFU Cymru members, staff, officeholders and Group Secretaries at this evening’s face-to-face meeting.”