§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with the state of agriculture in Wales; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MorrisThe cold snap a fortnight ago and the wet weather since298W then have added to farmers' fodder problems and have also made for a difficult lambing season in the hills. This underlines the importance of the increases which the present Government have made in hill sheep subsidy over recent months. In the lowland flocks, lambing has been good and generally better than last year.
Suckler herds and young cattle are also reported to be showing the effects of the fodder shortage. Dairy herds, however, have wintered well mainly because of the use of silage.
Now that the cold has ended and there is a prospect of brighter as well as warmer weather, I hope we shall shortly see the end of current difficulties. In the meantime I would urge those who have serious fodder problems to get in touch with the local adviser of the Agriculture Development and Advisory Service or the industry's self-help scheme which may be able to provide some assistance.