Abi Reader and Paul Williams are named president and vice president of Welsh farming union
Cardiff dairy farmer Abi Reader has been unanimously elected as the new president of NFU Cymru.
She will be supported by livestock farmer Paul Williams of Nebo, Clwyd who was elected as the new deputy president of the union. The pair were elected at a meeting of NFU Cymru Council in Cardiff Bay on 20 January.
Reader is a third-generation farmer, farming dairy, sheep and arable at Goldsland Farm in partnership with her parents and uncle in Wenvoe, just outside Cardiff.
A passionate advocate for promoting food and farming to the next generation and the wider public, Reader is a co-founder of the Cows on Tour movement and regularly engages with schoolchildren both on farm and in classrooms.
A former NFU Cymru Wales Woman Farmer of the Year, she was honoured by the Queen with an MBE in 2019 for her services to agriculture.
Reader first became involved with NFU Cymru in 2012, taking up a vacancy for the position of NFU Cymru vice county chair six months later. During her time at the union, Reader has served as NFU Cymru Glamorgan county chair, NFU Cymru Dairy Board chair and for the last four years has served as NFU Cymru deputy president.
She replaces outgoing NFU Cymru president Aled Jones, who decided not to stand for re-election after a long career with the union.
Reader said: “I am honoured to have been elected as the new president of NFU Cymru by my farming peers. It is a huge responsibility leading our industry in a period of considerable change, but I am ambitious about the opportunities for Welsh agriculture in the years ahead. I’m also eager to build on the important work of our fantastic outgoing president Aled Jones and those who have gone before him.
“This year sees the implementation of the long-awaited Sustainable Farming Scheme. NFU Cymru has been at the forefront of the scheme design process in recent years and although the scheme has transformed considerably since its early iterations, we still think there is work to do. I am committed to working with Welsh Government and partners across the industry to fine-tune this scheme where we believe change is needed.
“In addition to the changing policy landscape, we also have considerable political change on the horizon with elections for the new look Senedd fast approaching. NFU Cymru is committed to working with the new Welsh Government and MSs across all parties to help realise our ambitions for Welsh farming and deliver the outcomes Welsh farmers need to drive their businesses forward.”
Williams, meanwhile, farms beef and sheep at Cae Haidd, Nebo, near Llanrwst in partnership with his wife Dwynwen and their three children. He has been an active NFU Cymru member for over 20 years and has previously served as NFU Cymru Clwyd county chairman.
