Farming families struggling to make ends meet, warns charity
There has been a dramatic rise in the number of farming families who have cash-flow problems and are struggling to make ends meet, a charity has warned.
The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I.) has traditionally helped retired farmers and workers.
The amount of help given by Rabi Cymru in the first six months of this year is 84% higher than for the same period in 2015.
Nearly a third of help had gone to farmers in Brecon and Radnor.
Between 1 January and 15 July 2016, Rabi Cymru gave out welfare worth £60,258 to families still working on farms. For the same period in 2015 it was £32,739.
Looking at welfare support for all ages across Wales, the charity paid out £164,173 for the first half of this year.
This is an increase of 32% on the £124,354 for the same period last year.
Rabi Cymru said there has been an 84% increase in help for working farming families in Brecon and Radnor from £10,185 in the first half of 2015 to £18,715 for the same period this year.
Elaine Stephens, Rabi Cymru's Brecon and Radnor chairwoman, said extreme weather and family circumstances could all impact on farmers at different times but low prices were the main reason this year.
"It's very difficult for farmers when they don't know what price they're going to have at the end of the day and most market prices are depressed at the moment," she said.
Feeling isolated
Fiona Jones runs the family farm in Powys with her son Rhys and daughter Nerys.
"Many can be only a step away from quite difficult circumstances," she added.
If a farmer is struggling to pay his household bills then the whole family is affected.
"Farming is a very lonely industry and farmers can feel very isolated."
She said it was important to remember that equipment like tractors and 4x4s were "tools of the job" and not luxury items which could be sold off.
Hywel Dafis, who runs a dairy farm with his father Arwel at Talgarreg between New Quay and Llandysul in Ceredigion, said with current milk prices it was "hand to mouth".
He said the majority were really struggling to run their farms day to day, while it was impossible to plan ahead.
"We tend to work harder for less and there's only so long we can keep on doing that," he said. "It's simple economics."
Too proud to ask for help
Fiona Jones moved 12 years ago to the Powys Council holding with her husband Simon, they built the land up from 118 acres to 190 acres.
But he was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 and died just before Christmas last year.
Mrs Jones had help from Rabi in applying for sickness benefits for her husband when he was ill and a grant towards accommodation so she could visit him when he was in hospital, 60 miles away.
She also gave up work to help run the farm, as did Rhys who was a store manager.
"Our farm paid the day to day bills and my job off farm helped pay for anything extra," said Mrs Jones.
"When you've not got that income, you're really down to the bare bones.
"I think there are a lot of families out there who are perhaps too proud or embarrassed to ask for help. I'm glad we asked for help, it made a huge difference to us."
Rhys added: "It's difficult to earn a living out of it, it's a difficult time and with Europe it's uncertain times too.
"But I do love the job – I've worked in an office and there's something about the lifestyle being outdoors and there's a part of me that knows Dad worked very hard to get where he was and I didn't want it to go to waste."
