WE are halfway through March and most of the population will be looking forward to a few days off over the Easter break - a little nugget of stress-free time that we look forward to after the long, dark winter.

It’s a celebration of food and family time, without the hassle of writing Christmas cards and shopping for presents.

The spring flowers have by now recovered from the recent blast of snow and ice, lambs and calves are out and about and maybe you’ll start thinking about the Easter roast.

So, spare a thought for those who were out battling the weather just a few weeks back, making sure we have a continued, safe supply of food on our supermarket shelves.

The FUW has long argued that #FarmingMatters, not just because of a single farm and the food they produce, but because of all the other businesses who rely on the sector for their survival and who keep the wheels of the rural economy turning.

People need to understand the challenges, the physical and emotional effort that goes into producing food of the highest standard, whilst also managing resources to get the best from them.

After all, our farmers are renowned worldwide for adhering to excellent animal health and welfare standards and producing food of exceptional quality.

So, if we don’t want to see our supermarket shelves flooded with foreign imports, such as chlorine-washed chicken or rotten Brazilian beef, then we must make a real effort to support our farmers here at home!

The FUW will continue to highlight that support for agriculture is not simply support for farmers.

The support delivers an economic dividend of about 7:1, that is: for every £1 of support into agriculture, over £7 of economic activity is generated.

Let us not forget that Welsh agriculture’s gross output is almost £1.5 billion and that the food and drinks exports are worth £302 million to the economy of Wales.

If we want to see our Welsh family farms prosper in future and see them continuing to produce the food we all love so much, regardless of what market access we have, then we must ensure that the role they play is recognised by all.

GLYN ROBERTS

FUW president