TENANT farmers in Wales are to have their own branch of the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA), thanks to booming membership.

Next month’s launch of TFA Cymru marks the first step in a move to deliver a dedicated service of advice, information and support to tenant farmers in Wales. The development mirrors a structure already in place at the National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association.

The TFA says the decision was prompted by a natural growth in membership in Wales. It already has a well-established branch in Scotland.

Members in Wales will continue to have unlimited access to advice on all tenancy issues as the TFA increases its focus on representation and policy work within Wales.

The new branch is to be chaired by Welsh livestock farmer Dennis Matheson. At Llangedwyn, Powys, he runs a traditional Welsh upland farm where the main enterprises are a herd of beef suckler cows and a flock of Welsh mountain ewes.

He also produces a small acreage of arable crops as feed for his stock.

For more than 12 months, Mr Matheson has been actively involved in helping to raise the profile of the TFA in Wales.

The TFA Cymru will be officially launched at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Showground, Builth Wells, in November.

The TFA was formed more than 30 years ago by a group of farmers who felt that their interests were not being forcefully represented by existing bodies. It is the only organisation in the UK dedicated solely to the agricultural tenanted sector.