Welsh farming was close to disaster

Welsh farmers have welcomed yesterday's collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks.

The Farmers Union of Wales said the proposed deal threatened the loss of 100,000 agricultural jobs across Europe.

Nine days of high-level talks in Geneva floundered over an obscure "safeguard" for protecting farmers in the developing world from sudden drops in commodity prices.

Negotiators had hoped to open up farm and industrial markets to off-set global unrest from rising food and oil prices.

Speaking at the Sheep 2008 event in Malvern, FUW president Gareth Vaughan said the deal on the table would have had a detrimental effect on the Welsh farming industry.

"At the same time, however, we recognise that developing countries may not welcome the collapse," he said.