The sheep industry should brace against very different times, the NSA Wales/Cymru Conference heard at its annual meeting recently.

The call came from a range of perspectives, including the NSA CEO, the Welsh Government Chief Veterinary Officer and Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales.

NSA Chief Executive, Phil Stocker, told sheep producers and other professionals gathered at the Royal Welsh Showground that record lamb prices prevailed, but were coupled with higher costs and uncertainty over support. He outlined the political challenges, explaining that agriculture had previously been able to arrest or minimise political change through effective lobbying.

But he warned: “All the signs are now that this is very, very different. Although there is a lot we can do to try and make sure we can make our case really clearly, I think the general direction is set.

“Food production is wanted, but is going to be expected to stand on its own two feet and will be rewarded for providing things that can’t be recouped through the market place, such as landscape, wildlife, nature, carbon sequestration and those sorts of things.

“Food production as an enterprise is going to be without the cushions that it has relied on for many, many decades. We have to ramp up what we’re doing, we’re going to have to think about where we can reduce the costs and where we can optimize our income.

“We’ve got to reduce waste, we’ve got to try and use our genetics by using really efficient and effective sheep. We need to make sure we get the genetics right, so they grow to an optimum level and probably first and foremost we need to make sure the health of those sheep is optimized.”

Mr Stocker also outlined changes made at NSA head office. He is taking steps to spread responsibility, so that the organisation isn’t overly dependent on the chief executive. Newly developed premises will better enable team work.

Dr Richard Irvine, Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, outlined to the meeting that the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework sets the ambition for Wales to have healthy, productive, animals which have a good quality of life, supporting a thriving rural economy and environment. A core principle of the Framework is ‘prevention is better than cure’.

He said the sheep industry in Wales is facing both opportunities and challenges, not least busy times to keep disease out of flocks and tackle diseases when they occur. He outlined a number of issues relating to sheep health and welfare, productivity and sustainability. These included sheep scab and sheep dip disposal, as well as the threat from other diseases present in different parts of the world. Closer to home this included Bluetongue, a midge-borne disease - meaning it is not transmitted directly from animal to animal.

Dr Irvine stressed: “Bluetongue is a clear and present threat to the health and welfare of our sheep and cattle, but it does not pose a risk to public health, nor to food safety. It is crucial that all keepers maintain high levels of biosecurity and vigilance to keep disease out and report any suspicion of notifiable disease to APHA immediately”.

The Welsh Government is working in partnership with industry and stakeholders to ensure Wales has exemplar standards of animal health and welfare.

John Richards Hybu Cig Cymru/Meat Promotion Wales felt that the current preoccupation with the US and tariffs wasn’t a threat to Welsh lamb. China could potentially pose problems on world markets as such a big net importer of protein. Addressing the topic, Securing a prosperous future for the sheep sector in Wales, he explained the importance of the very strong demand from the EU market taking 95 per cent of sheep meat exports.

And he stressed: “That will continue to be there. We’ve got very loyal and very longstanding relationships with those markets. They want that product, they know our product, they respect our product and so it’s a good market.”

The conference was also an opportunity to meet the new Chief Executive of Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC). José Peralta has more than 25 years in the UK meat industry at managing director level. His most recent role was as Chief Operating Officer of Puffin Produce. He led the development of the Pembrokeshire Creamery milk bottling plant.

Wales Cymru Chair, Caryl Hughes, said NSA is working with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society with regard to the development of a new sheep building on the showground. She confirmed it will be ‘business as usual’ for 2025.

And she added that NSA Cymru would continue to represent farmers and especially sheep farmers across Wales on various committees, groups and at government level. Joining Wales delegates of the Next Generation group at the Senedd had been a great opportunity.

It had also facilitated brief conversations with key members of the Senedd, relationships that would be further developed. Caryl added that support for Wales Young Farmers was also important, so building future support.