Farmers’ Union of Wales member Alan Price who farms at Dafadfa Isaf, Gwynfe, Llangadog, in partnership with his wife Ellen, today urged farmers throughout the county to be vigilant after the recent theft of several in-lamb ewes on the farm.
Mr Price said farmers should take note of anything suspicious they may see happening in the countryside and report it to their local community support officer immediately.
His warning follows the theft of 50 in-lamb Welsh mountain ewes from rented land at Derwydd near Llandybie between January 24 and 31.
The family farm approximately 700 sheep and have a small sucker herd, which they keep on 150 acres of owned land at Dafadfa Isaf and rent approximately 100 acres.
“There is evidence that the sheep handling facilities within the field were used to gather the flock and take the sheep. We have reported the theft to the police but unfortunately there are no leads to date,” said Mr Price.
“The in-lamb ewes were mainly three to four years of age and we were due to start lambing at the end of the month and are devastated by this loss, which of course has substantial financial implications for us.”
Mr Price stressed that all farmers should enrol in the Farm Watch Scheme and the OWL system under which any reports of suspicious vehicles or persons can be reported and forwarded to other members of Farm Watch.
FUW Carmarthenshire county executive officer David Waters said: “Alan has taken a very pro-active approach to further highlight the theft and produced a leaflet detailing the tag numbers and information required about the theft which he is going to place in local marts. If anyone has any information regarding the incident I would urge them to contact their local police station.
“I would further like to highlight the importance of enrolling for the local Farm Watch scheme as it is only by uniting and co-operating that the whole farming community can combat such farm thefts.”