THIS week marks the FUW’s annual farmhouse breakfast week and up and down the country farmhouse kitchens, village halls and mart cafes are filling the air with the delicious smell of cooked Welsh breakfast, writes FUW president Glyn Roberts.

After some disruption brought by the pandemic, we are so excited to see these events return.

It is such an excellent opportunity to catch up with members, friends, family and our elected representatives to share our thoughts, enjoy some great food and put the world to rights.

We know there is no better time and place to do that than over a great plate of food and a cuppa.

I hope many of you will be joining us this week and we look forward to welcoming you to our breakfast table.

Our farmers do an excellent job every day in producing food, they are out there looking after the livestock and the environment no matter the weather or time of day.

Farmers in Wales produce sustainable, nutritious food that we are extremely proud of.

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It will come as no surprise, then, that we were extremely concerned to hear the Minister for Investment make a statement during the second reading of the Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Bill saying that “... having a New Zealand lamb chop on your plate in the House of Lords restaurant is better for the environment than having one that comes from another part of the UK... it came from a Board of Trade report.”

This, and Lord Hannan of Kingsclere’s similar comment that “New Zealand lamb eaten in London has a smaller carbon footprint than Welsh lamb eaten in London” significantly misrepresents the figures in the 2021 Board of Trade Green Trade report, which definitely does not make such a categorical claim.

We have of course written to the Minister highlighting scientific studies that show why a UK Minister should not be making such a misleading statement, let alone running down our farming industry while effectively promoting our main competitors.

As was highlighted during the House of Lords debate, the trade deals struck with New Zealand and Australia will allow food produced to standards that fall well short of those required in the UK to be imported in increasing volumes, representing a significant risk for UK standards and farm incomes.

Clearly, there are some Lords who do not share such concerns, but in other countries the concessions given by the UK Government to New Zealand and Australia are seen as a joke - something that former Secretary of State for agriculture George Eustice effectively confirmed to the House of Commons in November 2022.

The FUW will continue its lobbying to highlight members' concerns and do its utmost to ensure that such misleading statements are addressed accordingly.

This week, that’s happening at breakfast events across the country.