Recent reports highlighting the large quantities of water needed to produce meat and dairy products are well wide of the mark in Wales, where it’s mainly rain water which irrigates the lush pastures. Such reports are based on global figures which group together the extensively reared cattle and sheep of Wales with the intensive farms of the US.
Agriculture carries the highest rate of suicide of any occupation, and at this time of year the pressures of lambing, long hours working alone late into the night, with little rest and often no one to talk to, can increase the pressures on farmers.
Farming leaders have welcomed last night’s Bill in Parliament which, if approved by the Lords, will enshrine in law that the UK must ask EU leaders for a long extension if Theresa May fails to get her deal through parliament by April 12 - effectively ruling out a no-deal Brexit.
The UK Government’s push to increase mobile phone coverage across Wales has hidden, and potentially expensive, side effects for farmers. The revised Electronic Communication Code means that Telecom operators have been able to cut rents paid to those with masts on their land.
An all Wales meeting of Farmers’ Union of Wales leaders has unanimously called on the Government to give more time to deliver on Brexit, following the latest voting in Parliament.
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