Bishop of St Davids says those who represent rural communities must ask questions
"Carmarthenshire was once a county that was proud of its dairy farming history. We now hear of more and more dairy farmers going out of the industry. Those of us who represent rural communities must start to ask questions otherwise there is a real fear that this industry will be extinct," said the Bishop of St Davids, The Right Revd Carl Cooper, to local farmers present at the NFU Cymru Carmarthenshire County Conference.
Bishop Carl continued, "Is it any surprise that the dairy industry is dying when a farmer gets approximately 16 pence for a litre of milk, and yet when I go to the supermarket to buy a litre I pay 62 pence. The current price of a Holstein bull calf in Carmarthen mart is a £1 and yet you cannot buy an ear tag for that animal for less than £4! We must ensure that those in positions of power change this trend, as I fear the ever increasing amount of rules and regulations are crippling and demoralising our local farmers."
Speaking at the Halliwell Centre in Carmarthen, the Bishop of St Davids told those farmers present that the Church in Wales was committed to serving the rural communities to the best of their ability. "At a time when we hear of the closures of post offices and schools in rural Wales, I am pleased to say that the church does not have a programme of closure. We will stand up for the rural people of Wales. I want to see a profitable agricultural industry in the future."
The Bishop told NFU Cymru members in Carmarthenshire how he was particularly passionate about International Fair Trade and believed that Fair Trade was just as important in the UK as it was anywhere in the world.
Bishop Carl said, "We are aware that a significant amount of the beef sold in British pubs and eaten in British schools comes from abroad, and particularly Brazil. The UK is the fourth largest importer of Brazilian beef. Slave labour is still apparent in Brazil however and thousands of labourers are bullied, brutalised and sometimes shot. I would encourage the British people to not buy Brazilian beef. We live within a context of traceability so why buy meat from an untraceable source?"
The newly elected Chairman for NFU Cymru in Carmarthenshire, Hugh Richards from Felinfoel, Llanelli said, "We are very grateful to the Bishop for coming along and speaking to us at our annual conference and for HSBC bank for sponsoring the event. It is refreshing to hear from someone who isn't directly involved in the farming industry but who is acutely aware of the difficulties local farmers are facing."
Carmarthenshire can currently boast that the NFU Cymru President, Dai Davies, the NFU President, Tim Bennett and the former President of NFU Cymru and current County Chairman, Hugh Richards, all live and farm in the county.
