Agriculture in Wales

This results in only a small proportion of the land area being suitable for arable cropping, but grass for the grazing of livestock is present in abundance.

Arable crops and horticulture are limited to southeastern Wales, the Welsh Marches, the northeastern part of the country, the coastal fringes and larger river valleys.

Dairying takes place on improved pasture in lowland areas and beef cattle and sheep are grazed on the uplands and more marginal land.

Much of the land at higher elevations is extensive sheepwalk country and is grazed by hardy Welsh Mountain sheep that roam at will.

[7] In the Middle Ages, land was to some extent held collectively in South Wales, as in feudal England, with villages surrounded by ridge-and-furrow open fields.

In contrast, in North Wales, farmers living in the same hamlet may have co-operated to the extent of sharing plough teams, but land was held by individuals.

[8] By Early Modern times, the feudal system of South Wales collapsed and the open fields were enclosed piecemeal, by agreement between the affected farmers, leaving a countryside of independent farms.

In the North, farmers continued to live in hamlets, which according to a 15th-century account consisted of nine houses all making use of "one plough team, one kiln, one churn, one cat, one cock and one herdsman.

Transhumance was practised, people moving with their animals from a low-lying "hendre" farm in winter, to an upland "hafod" farmhouse in summer.

Rural craftsmen were also lost and their supply was replenished from depressed areas of southwestern England and by mass immigration from Ireland.

[1] Much of the land was in the possession of large landowners and let out to tenant farmers in holdings of less than 100 acres (40 ha), often with buildings in a poor state of repair.

The number of horses for agricultural purposes are not mentioned in the statistics, but there were 290,000 dairy cows, 214,000 other cattle, 28,400 pigs and 9,739,000 sheep in the country.

[13] Farm incomes have fallen over the years as a result of cheap food policies in the United Kingdom, the lowering of world commodity prices and the removal of production-based subsidies.

Horticulture is in long-term decline, with the area of land under cultivation for potatoes, vegetables, soft fruit and orchards having halved since the 1960s to about 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres).

Hand-milking a few cows in a byre is a thing of the past and nowadays herds are milked by machine in modern parlours, two or three times a day.

Milk prices barely cover the costs of production, margins are tight, and there are fewer family-run dairy farms each year.

Systems adopted include suckler cows, where the calf is reared by its mother, and the buying in, and growing on, of young beef cattle.

The trampling of their hooves helps control bracken and they feed on a wide range of vegetation and on coarse tufts of grass that sheep cannot tackle.

These hardy cows with horns and shaggy coats are able to thrive on poor quality pasture and moorland and can be used to provide both milk and beef.

In the twentieth century, many miners in the South Wales valleys still kept a pig in a backyard sty, to be killed for production of fresh and salt pork, bacon, faggots and black pudding.

This has reduced the manpower needed on farms, and there has been an increase of use by farmers of specialised contractors who provide services in silage making, harvesting and fencing.

[26] Indoor and outdoor leisure and recreational facilities are provided by some farmers including paint-balling, laser-combat games,[27] pony trekking, mountain biking and many other activities.

[28] Changes in farming practices, especially the drainage of land, the more intensive use of grassland and the removal of hedgerows, has affected wildlife in Wales.

One initiative is Glastir, more objective than the previous schemes,[3] offering financial support to participants, intended to combat climate change, improve water management and maintain and enhance biodiversity.

[30] In 2024 the Welsh Government set out its "Sustainable Farming Scheme" which aims to provide support for farmers in Wales while benefiting the environment.

[32] During Brexit negotiations in 2020, trade union NFU Cymru president John Davies emphasised that the European market was of "supreme importance" to the farming industry of Wales.