It took a while to warm-up but the last few weeks have seen the temperatures rise and spring quickly turned to summer.

Let’s hope that the confidence expressed by Welsh Water that we will have no issues with water supplies during 2023 is not hubris on their part.

We know from talking to members that despite a wet spring and plenty of rain over the winter the recent dry spell has certainly started to have an impact.

From the perspective of the Union and FUW Insurance Services Ltd recent weeks have been busy, and included a very successful Annual Business Conference which heard from excellent speakers in our industry and organisation, as well as special keynote speakers Rory Best OBE, Irish former rugby union player who was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019, and Guto Harri, Director of Communications for Boris Johnson in No10!

We would also like to thank all the county executive members who made time to discuss the FUW Group Business Plan and those members of the Grand Council who endorsed the plan last month with us.

The aim of the exercise was to put a strategy in place for the FUW Group as we aim to move in a more proactive way.

This means we can now concentrate on the services that we need to offer our members in the future and how we will fund the Union as we face a new period for Welsh agriculture post Brexit and following the expected passing of the Agriculture Bill here in Wales.

These are uncertain times for farmers and the same is true for the Union. I

t’s not easy to plan our support for members at a time when there is uncertainty in terms of the agricultural support structure that we will be working within in the future.

We are in the fortunate position of wanting to make changes in order to better serve our members in the future as we await confirmation of the new support systems from the Government.

Whilst there is some uncertainty in the sector, the Union will continue to be a democratic organisation where the views and expectations of members should be driving the organisation forward. We have served Welsh farmers since 1955 and will continue to do so for years to come.

With that in mind, I encourage members to make sure they join us for our county meetings, either virtually or in person, and also stop by for a chat and a cuppa at the summer shows.

We want to hear from you and make sure you are part of what we do, so we can ensure we have thriving, sustainable, family farms in Wales.