NFU Cymru president suffers devastating farm fire

NFU Cymru president Aled Jones has suffered a devastating fire at his dairy farm in the outskirts of Caernarfon in north Wales.

Three covered silage clamps, including 4,000t of stored hay and straw, were destroyed in the blaze last week.

Overall, up to 70% of the farm’s winter fodder and bedding has been lost at Hendy Farm, Llanfaglan, Gwynedd.

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Firefighters from North Wales Fire Service managed to contain the fire and prevent the flames from spreading to a fourth silage clamp, which was uncovered.

Mr Jones is not sure how much of the silage is salvageable.

Crews pumped water from a river 2km away to tackle the fire, which took more than three days to extinguish.

The cattle sheds were unaffected and no livestock were lost in the blaze. No one was injured.

Fire investigators visited the farm for two hours on Tuesday (17 October) to try to determine the source of the fire, which is unknown.

Mr Jones paid tribute to fire teams and rural insurer NFU Mutual for their “excellent support during the turmoil”.

He told Farmers Weekly he is insured for his losses but faces “many challenges” to get his farm business running smoothly again.

‘Devastating’

News of the fire was first reported at NFU Council’s meeting in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, on Tuesday.

NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader told council delegates: “Aled had a fire on his farm last week, which, as you can imagine, is devastating for anyone.

“We were very lucky no one was hurt. It hasn’t gone near his house. It hasn’t hurt the livestock.

“Aled has been trying to run a farm business around a massive fire, which burned for over four days and was on his silage clamps.

“He’s lost up to 70% of his winter fodder and bedding. He is insured. Things are starting to look a little bit more promising.

“He has managed to find various bits of fodder from around him and things are really settling down.”

Mr Jones is a married father-of-four and an eighth-generation farmer who runs a pedigree herd of Holstein-Friesians at Hendy Farm with his son Osian.