Next week is the week in the agricultural calendar - it’s show week, writes Kath Shaw.

Some of you have already been busy with county shows and are now gearing up for the big one. Whilst we’re not taking livestock to the show ourselves, we are busy putting the finishing touches on our event plan for what promises to be another excellent week.

The week in general will be an opportunity for the FUW group to highlight to members, the public visiting the show and politicians why farming matters more than ever and what must be achieved if there are to be thriving, sustainable, family farms in Wales.

Those coming to our pavilion can look forward to a full programme of seminars and entertainment - members and non-members are welcome to join these seminars.

There will be a variety of topical discussions in our seminars. Those issues, if not addressed, are going to affect the viability and sustainability of our family farms here in Wales and we will be lobbying and shining a light on those issues throughout the week.

To start the week, we will be focussing on the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) ‘NVZ’ Regulations and discuss the impact they’re having on all farmers across Wales; then we’ll look at how we ensure that barriers are removed and incentives restored in order to boost agriculture’s contribution to future renewable energy targets without undermining our food production capacity. Minister Julie James MS will be joining us for this discussion.

Tuesday sees us hosting the launch of the Wales WI ‘Not in my Name’ campaign and in the afternoon we are joined by the DPJ Foundation and the Football Association Wales to discuss mental health and how we can bridge the gap between young men in farming and football clubs across Wales;

Wednesday our attention turns to livestock worrying and how best to prevent dog attacks on livestock following the unexpected u-turn on the UK Kept Aminals Bill. In particular we will be examining the role of DNA evidence to identify dogs where there have been no witnesses to the crime. On Wednesday afternoon we will be looking at how we can ensure private and public finance for ‘natural capital’ works for our family farms and food production in Wales, and what the options are.

Finishing the week on a high we look forward to welcoming the Hiraeth podcast which will discuss Brexit and farming.

Alongside those events, we look forward to once again welcoming Members of the Senedd and Members of Parliament, as well as industry stakeholders to the pavilion to discuss the many farming matters that have a profound impact on the agricultural industry.

With a family friendly approach, we are selling milkshakes in the Lle Llaeth and are looking forward to see children and families visit the family marquee for an opportunity to see the revamped life- sized model of the FUW’s cow, who has been redesigned with a take on the infamous public art exhibition, CowParade; A new peep-board is also guaranteed to provide many fun photo opportunities.

We wish all those showing at the Royal Welsh Show a successful event and the very best of luck. If you are around, do come to see us at the pavilion next to the main ring - a warm welcome awaits all.