Daily Post

20 Ways We Can Help Save the Planet ; Friends of the Earth Cymru Is Urging People to Make 2006 a Green Year... And Here's How to Do It

1 Make sure TVs and computer monitors aren't left on standby - they still use 80% of the energy needed when they're switched on. 2 Swapping ordinary light bulbs for energy saving ones. Just one energy efficient light bulb can save pounds 10-a-year on electricity bills.

We'll Be Going Neutral in the Carbon Stakes

WHEN I first moved to my home village, a neighbour told me its residents only ever left in a box. Seven years on, I have no reason to doubt his assertion. We're still there, captives of a community in which the social highlight is the annual whist drive (so I'm told). Like so many other villages, it is ultra conservative. The age range is high and the crime rate is low: dog fouling and street lighting are the major debating points.

Country Diary

JANUARY 5: Anglesey NFU county conference, Tafarn y Rhos, Llangefni, 7.30pm.

Binni's Boxing Clever

A WOMAN farmer who runs a thriving box delivery service has won a prize in the Welsh Black Cattle Society's first ever annual inspection of organic herds. Bini Jones, who runs the nine-cow Foty herd at Ty Isa Farm, Ffestiniog, picked up the small herds title in the society's end of year on-farm inspection, sponsored by Graig Farm Organics.

Keep School Milk Urge Dairy Farmers ; Reports Say Scheme Is Waste of Public Money

DAIRY farmers have urged the Welsh Assembly to keep subsidising milk for primary school children. It follows a consultants' report which advises scrapping the service to 1.2m primary school children in England because they believe it's a waste of public money.

Honours for Dedicated Farming Leaders

NFU Cymru president Peredur Hughes and National Sheep Association chief executive John Thorley both received OBEs in the New Year Honours list. Mr Hughes' honour was for services to agriculture in Wales, while Mr Thorley's was in recognition of services to sheep farming.

Young Farmers Flee the Land

WALES' crisis-hit farming industry could be heading for meltdown, with a new generation of young farmers quitting the land for good. Rural communities across Wales are at risk of suffering a mass exodus of their brightest and best over the next two years.

National Assembly Gets 30% of the Vote

Ponies Paid to Be Part of Welsh Landscape

A SCHEME to restore semi-feral foals to Welsh hills is ensuring the future hardiness of Welsh Mountain Ponies. Each year in December, young ponies are brought down to Brecon to be assessed and certified for breeding.

Roundup: Talking About Farm Issues

Roundup: Organic On Up

Roundup: Waste Delay

Roundup: Funny Old Life

Roundup: Rights of Way

Roundup: Good to Talk

Roundup: Wild Boar Hunt

Roundup: Guinea Pigs

Moelhills Are Made Out of a Mountain ; Community Farm Slowly Finds Its Feet

THREE years ago we took on Moelyci Farm, a traditional sheep farm complete with its own mountain and a slate hillside. The starting point was a series of public meetings in local villages. People were divided: some filled with excitement and idealism at the possibilities which fired the imagination, others suspicious, sceptical, or antagonistic.

Bird Notes

NEW Year's Day is always a great highlight of the birding year. For a start it marks the beginning of a new list in which everything counts as a new bird! Sadly, this year I was struck down with flu on Christmas Day. Yes, it was flu, not a man cold - I have a doctor's note to prove it.

5ft Gran Cleared of Jury Nobbling

A FRAIL granny last night told of her seven-month hell after being cleared of intimidating jurors. Six-stone Sylvia Thomas faced up to five years in jail.