Low wool price is the latest hammer blow to farmers

"The rock bottom wool price is the latest hammer blow to Less Favoured Area farmers" said LFA board Chairman, John Owen at a board meeting held in Builth Wells last week. "Farmers have already been hard hit by the Environment, Planning and Countryside Minister's decision to slash the Tir Mynydd budget by nearly a third for 2007. These two combined blows to our income may make many farmers question the viability of sheep farming in the LFA".

Discussing the current climate and reflecting on the past, the Board remembered a time when the price they received for their wool helped "keep" their sheep for the rest of the year. But for the last few years it has cost most farmers a significant amount to shear and remove wool from their farms.

The fact that Wool is now of so little value has also made it difficult to attract young people to take up shearing. In many cases shearers are unable to charge a fee that covers their skills because of the inability of farmers to recover costs from the "wool cheque".

John Owen said, "At a time when wool is of such low value, the cut to the Tir Mynydd budget, which delivers significant support to 80% of Wales is even harder to fathom.

"However, NFU Cymru will continue to leave no stone unturned in lobbying to maintain realistic levels of support for LFA farmers. We will continue to highlight that the increased costs of farming in a physically and climatically challenging area, coupled with the declining wool price and spiralling transport costs makes the maintenance of dedicated LFA support vital to sustaining viable agriculture for 80% of Wales."