We’ve heard this many times over the years and the data is there to prove it – farming and our farming families in Wales are crucial to our social, economic and environmental fabric. Without them food production and food security would suffer; our landscapes would deteriorate; biodiversity would be in severe decline and our language, culture and heritage would be under threat. It’s quite a responsibility for the sector to carry yet they face the challenges head on every day.
As an industry, and HCC is very much at the forefront of this, we have a responsibility to not just educate and inform various stakeholders about the role of our farming families, but also to support them in their endeavors to feed us with sustainably produced, nutritious food whilst looking after our landscapes and biodiversity. Family farms have the ability to bring communities together too and play a major role in our rural economies. A fine example of that was the recent Garth Country Fair HCC attended.
Ben Williams and the family at Garth Uchaf, who farm on Cardiff's highest point in Pentyrch, did an excellent job in showcasing the industry to many different people, most of which don’t have a direct link to agriculture but are consumers of our premium products PGI Welsh Lamb and PGI Welsh Beef. The one-day event brought many different people together, highlighting the essential role family farms such as Garth farm play in keeping our rural communities alive and thriving. Not only that, but it was clear how agriculture is also a major driver of economic and community viability. All the different stalls that joined the event had in some way a connection to agriculture, be that through food production, art based on rural living or wider countryside activity.
We know that agriculture is contributing to job creation, rural development, and supporting local communities. Wales’s pioneering Well-Being of Future Generations Act defines sustainability in a broad sense, to include social, economic and linguistic factors which underpin vibrant communities. A productive, sustainable lamb and beef sector makes a contribution in all these areas, which was clearly highlighted at the Garth Country Fair.
Of course, that extends past the Garth Uchaf farm gate and we know that the red meat supply chain is made of up of numerous links in addition to on-farm production, encompassing the upstream provision of farming inputs and downstream processing and retail outlets.
Indeed, 2023 figures from the aggregate agricultural output and income report 2023 highlight that the value of output from cattle remained high at £572 million (an increase of 16% from 2022). The value of output from sheep showed a further increase of £57 million (or 21%) to just under £325 million. Gross output from cattle and sheep is estimated to be 40% of the value of agricultural output in Wales.
In addition, the broader impact of agriculture on the rural economy links to estimates of local spend and multiplier effects. Research further suggests that family farms in Wales procure over 80% of goods and services from within a 25-mile radius of the holding, and so make a wider contribution to local economies and communities.
Not many of us will be thinking about the ins and outs of the rural economy and how much of it is linked to family farms like Garth Uchaf, or our local shows, but it is important we don’t forget why our family farms are an essential component in the patchwork of rural life.
