'To see our land and livestock drowning, is bad news for all of us'

The weather has well and truly played havoc with us all.

I doubt there are many who have not come across the heartbreaking images of flooded fields, livestock drowning, and livelihoods, if not in ruin, at least badly affected.

It also doesn’t look like the weather is going to improve any time soon, which means that fields won’t have time to dry out before being hit with the next load of rain.

We know that the agricultural industry is hugely affected by flooding and is always under the potential threat from rivers and coastal areas.

This sort of weather pattern is not a one-off and the effects of climate change are being felt across the world.

What this recent flooding has highlighted again, though, is that farmland - as well as urban property - has to be protected.

Outside of urban businesses and households, agriculture and rural tourism should be the next priority business sector in Wales when it comes to flood prevention.

Indeed, rural areas and agricultural land, which we use for food production, and which provides a haven for wildlife, birds and many other species, should not be threatened like this.

Farming by its very nature is responsible for the management and protection of the landscape and the environment as well as the sustainable production of food for an ever-increasing population.

So to see our land and livestock drowning, is bad news for all of us. To add insult to injury the recovery of that land, which includes the removal of debris, fencing and reseeding, is a cost that falls on our farmers.

We all try our best to combat the effects of climate change, with many of our farmers participating in agri-environment schemes such as Glastir and Glastir Advanced.

Through national participation in habitat schemes, farmers are grazing moorland to prescribed stocking levels, looking after hedgerows, planting trees, taking care of wildlife corridors and creating streamside corridors on improved land, and as well as protecting biodiversity and storing carbon, one of the multiple benefits from this land management is the slowing down of water movement from the uplands and hills of Wales.

The thing to remember is that as farmers, we can only do so much on our own.

What is needed is better cooperation, support and an understanding that flood prevention takes more than just a farmer.

We must, of course, take responsibility and strive for efficiency in producing food in a sustainable way, but fighting flooding and climate change can’t be a stand alone effort.

GLYN ROBERTS

President

Farmers' Union of Wales