Wales is losing sheep – A great opportunity
Wales is losing sheep at a slow rate. This rate will accelerate very rapidly over the next two decades. Sheep have shaped our upland landscape in far greater ways than many of us imagine. They are heavily overstocked and the rolling hillsides that characterise much of Wales are wildlife deserts as a consequence. We have an unusually structured sheep farming system. It is structured so as to utilise unproductive hill and upland to benefit our landed gentry. There are 36 million breeding ewes in the UK, we only need 12 million to provide for current levels of lamb production. Have a look at this article and then have a look at our links. Free roaming herbivores (sheep and deer) stop woodland, heath and scrub regeneration at source.{Earth and Leaf Editorial}
Wales is losing sheep
Wool-d you believe Wales is losing sheep?
If we believe the stereotypes, Wales has long been widely known for its rugby, choirs and sheep.
But the rugby is in the doldrums, the number of choirs is dwindling – and the sheep seem to have done a runner.
New figures show that where there were nearly 12m of them in the 1990s, the Welsh flock has fallen to just 8.75m in 2024.
This is almost their lowest in more than a decade, according to the Welsh government’s latest agricultural survey, and chickens now outnumber sheep.
Further reading from Earth and Leaf . . .
Farming union hits back after environmentalist predicts demise of Welsh livestock farming
We must reform sheep farming using genomics The future of farm support in Wales
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Thankyou for reading. There are many more articles in the Earth and Leaf Library.
Iain Dunn
Founder of Earth and Leaf Community Interest Company. Lifelong career as a livestock farming expert backed by an education in agricultural sciences and economics. Now a conservationist, researcher and sustainability campaigner.