PIG farmers are the latest to feel the effects of the disastrous harvest of 2007

Just under 4% of Welsh farms – fewer than 1,500 holdings – keep pigs, but as we report today, that figure is sure to fall after the dramatic increase in costs that make it simply uneconomic.

Pig farmers depend more than any other on feed, and the extremes of climate change meant it was either too dry or too wet for arable farmers from Australia to Europe and America.

And it's the same old story: costs rise but cheap imports dictate returns from the supermarket.

The impact of this for British agriculture can be illustrated in retail prices over the past decade. In 1995, milk cost 36p a pint. It was cheaper – 35p – in 2000 and was 39p last year. A leg of lamb was £5.46 a kilo in 1995, only £3.95 in 2000 and was still only £5.18 last year.