Farming has a key role to play in looking after the environment and combating climate change but the production of food must not be excluded from the conversation, says Pembrokeshire beef, sheep and arable farmer Jayne Richards.
Jayne, who farms with her parents Michael and Margaret and husband Ali at Jordanston Farm, St Mary’s Park, Jordanston, just outside of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, has no doubt that if it weren’t for small family farms up and down the country the environment would suffer. The aesthetic look of the Welsh countryside would change dramatically, with rural communities being lost.
However, the family are clear that food production and the care of the environment both have a critical role to play and one can’t function without the other.
The 350 acre farm, which is in the Glastir scheme, is home to 400 breeding ewes and 140 beef cattle, as well as a small suckler herd. The family keep mostly Welsh half bred ewes and breed their own Texel rams and replacement ewes. They also keep some store lambs in the autumn and winter to finish on root crops.