ASSEMBLY Member Adam Price met with members of NFU Wales and the Black Mountain Graziers Association last week to discuss rural crime and the agricultural industry post-Brexit.

Garry Williams of Blaencennen Farm, Llangadog, hosted a meeting at his farm.

With Welsh farmers receiving 80% of their subsidies under the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, and UK Agriculture Secretary Michael Gove announcing that farmers will have to “earn their subsidies” following Brexit, Welsh farmers work in a cloud of uncertainty as the UK enters into the Brexit negotiations.

Wales differs from the rest of the UK in that it is a net exporter to the European Union, with farmers exporting three-quarters of their produce to the EU markets, including 90 per cent of exported lamb.

With WTO tariffs on trade between 40% and 80% on exports of beef and lamb after leaving the single market, the future of Welsh farming hangs in the balance.

Rural crime and the recent local conviction for sheep rustling was a concern as members felt the sentence was far too lenient and is not enough of a deterrent.

The Association has asked Member of Parliament Jonathan Edwards to raise the situation with the UK Government’s Attorney General.