Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) is encouraging beef and sheep farmers from across Wales to complete a short survey to highlight the challenges currently facing the red meat sector.
The purpose of the annual ‘Farmer Intentions Survey’ is to assess the impact of those challenges on farm businesses in Wales and to understand their future business plans, which will help guide discussions going forward.
The online survey can be accessed for two weeks, from Monday 9 September to Monday 23 September, using the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/phase3ENG
HCC’s Intelligence, Analysis and Business Insight Executive, Glesni Phillips said: “Rising inflation and increasing farm input costs have significantly challenged the agricultural sector in recent years and made decision-making more complicated for Welsh farmers. To better understand these issues, we have compiled a survey to assess the current situation.
“This is the third ‘Farmer Intentions Survey’ that HCC has held. It allows us to gather up-to-date information and build a sector-wide picture of the challenges that farmers face and how these vary from year to year.
“The results of the first survey showed that worries around farm input costs were high, and it was feared that low scanning rates, as a result of bad weather, would impact on flock numbers in the following year.
“However, last year’s survey results revealed that pressures on Welsh flock numbers had lifted slightly, and that farmer fears over input costs had eased. There was a considerable improvement in producer intentions.
“In order to continue with this research, we would like to see farmers from across Wales completing the new survey so that we can explore the latest challenges within the sector and consider how farmers’ intentions are likely to impact the future. This will help us, and the wider industry, to prepare and produce forecasts for the year ahead on stocking levels and the availability of red meat for consumers.”
Glesni added: “The survey is easy to answer and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Producers will then be entered into a draw for a chance of winning a £50 meat voucher.”
