A SEMINAR organised by the Farmers’ Union of Wales has provided an opportunity for Welsh dairy farmers to come together and air their views on ways to Brexit-proof their business.

Leading the discussions at the Welsh Dairy Show was Gwyn Jones, AHDB Dairy board chairman, who highlighted the likelihood the industry will be open to more competition, less support and increased volatility in the future.

He emphasised that there will be opportunities as well, since the UK was an ideal country for producing milk, due to the climate, structure and the fact that there were good farmers in the sector.

In his talk he stressed that the way forward for the sector was to be inspirational, efficient and prepare for the future.

He discussed AHDB’s recently published approach­ focusing on two systems – block calving where all cows calve within a 12-week window and all-year-round calving with no seasonal emphasis on calving.

“Block calving herds typically have lower overall costs of production, can be simpler to operate and can have lifestyle benefits, depending on land suitability, housing and location,” said Mr Jones.

“The best AYR producers can achieve production costs comparable with block-calving and higher output can bring greater income. But the system can bring complexity making it harder to spot weaknesses in performance."

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops and online on Wednesday