Ian Rickman elected Farmers' Union of Wales president

Carmarthenshire sheep and beef farmer Ian Rickman has been elected as president of the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW).

Mr Rickman was elected at the union’s council meeting in Aberystwyth on Friday 30 June, taking over from Glyn Roberts, who served 8 years in the role.

He has called for 'urgent clarity' for agricultural funding in Wales and for bovine TB policy to improve.

Another ambition for the union in his term is to encourage more young members to join the FUW.

Mr Rickman is currently in a share farming agreement with his business partner Sean Jeffreys, keeping sheep and rearing Wagyu calves.

Speaking about his election to president, he said: “I never envisioned being president of the FUW but am truly honoured to be elected into the role.

"I must thank Glyn Roberts for his dedicated service for the past 8 years. The boots I have to fill are huge and there can never be enough words to convey our debt and gratitude to Glyn for all he has done."

He added: "At the moment we more or less know what we can expect until 2024 in terms of support for agriculture, but after that you fall off a cliff if you try to do any sort of cash flow or business planning.

"We realistically don’t know the details of how farm support is going to look going forward. A lot of my work in the immediate future is going to focus on getting clarity for our members on this,” said the newly elected FUW President.

Bovine TB is also an issue that is at the forefront of his mind. “It has been an issue for the previous generation and it will remain an issue for the next generation of farmers if nothing changes.

"We will work with the new chief vet and the Welsh government to continue trying to find workable solutions to the issue.

“There should however be no misunderstanding - members are at the end of their tether and the ongoing TB situation is a huge concern to farmers here in Wales, which ultimately also puts our food security at risk.”

One ambition for the union in his term is to encourage more young members to join the FUW and encourage more members to take up roles as officials within the organisation, both locally and nationally.

He said: "Succession in the FUW is just as important as it is on a farm. I’m passionate about the union and the FUW is completely democratic and will remain completely democratic."