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NSA Welsh Sheep 2013


The


shows must go on


page 6


Top event springs to life


Check out Wales


Farmer’s guide to this year’s sum- mer shows.


Pages 14-15 Farming news and views in Wales


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Body blowfor Welsh farming


NEWS that the Welsh Country Meats processing plant at Gaerwen, Anglesey is to close, with the loss of 350 jobs, has been described as a‘bodyblow’ forthe Welsh red meat sector.The plant’sparent group Vion, had failed to find abuyer forthe site, which processed 640,000 lambs ayear and it shut its doors on April 12th.


Full story on page 3. page 18


Youngsters speak up


pages 24-25


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Government’s ‘crumbs’ of help aresnow joke


■ No cash for hard-hit hill farmers


WALES’ farming minister has delivered ablunt mes- sage to livestock produc- ers


who suffered unprecedented losses in


last month’s heavy snow. Alun Davies has ruled out emergency financial aid to farm-


by Debbie James


ers in the worst affected areas and has urged them to become moreresilient. Thousands of sheep died in


regions of Wales with high con- centrations of flocks and this will impact heavilyonfarmincomes and cashflowoverthe coming months.


Although the Welsh


Government has extended atem- porary derogation to allowfarm- ers to bury their dead stock on farmuntil April 16th, Alun


Davies,Wales’ minister fornatu- ralresources and food, said there would be no cash aid. He has instead implemented


an independent reviewtoexam- ine howchallenges related to the weather could be better over- come in the future. “Agriculturewill always be


reliant on the climate,and con- cerns raised with me about the cumulative impacts of this latest episode of severe weather suggest theremay be an inherent under- lying weakness in farmbusiness- es’ resilience,individuallyand collectively,tocope when diffi-


cult circumstances arise,” said Mr Davies. “The lamb sector,for example,


has experienced arelatively steadyperiod of stableor increasing prices and growing incomes in recent years.Itisa matter of greatconcern if asin- gle year of reduced prices, together with the difficult weath- er,causes such apparent econom- ic disruption to the sector.” The reviewprocess will look at


what can be done to strengthen resilience. “The reviewwill also consider some of the business models that


presentlyapplyinthe industry, particularly among the livestock sectors,and whether they are actuallyviableinthe longer term,”said Mr Davies. Mr Davies suggested business-


es across Wales had suffered dur- ing the extreme weather and manyinindustries other than farming were facing significant financial problems also. “It is simplynot sustainableor


fair if we respond to every chal- lenge with ademand formore and greater public support,”he said.


(Continued on page 3) £1.50


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