THE effects on the wider economy of a continued depression in livestock farming was spelled out at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair yesterday alongside appeals for consumers to buy Welsh.
NFU Cymru president Dai Davies said a 10% reduction in beef production would lead to a decline of £273m and a loss of 1,300 jobs in related industries. A similar 10% reduction in sheep production would cost £127m and almost 600 jobs.
"At a more local level, and particularly in the uplands, grazing livestock are a key component in the rural economy, supporting feed businesses, veterinary practices, machinery dealers and repairers and agricultural merchants," said Mr Davies.
"If cattle and sheep disappear from the uplands, they will take very many jobs with them and the landscape will revert to shrub with implications for access as well as for a vibrant countryside."