Hill farmers outrage at Hardens slur
05 October 1998
Hill farmers’ outrage at Harden’s slur
By FWi staff
CLAIMS that hill farmers produce no food and spend their days swanning about the countryside have been condemned as “totally outrageous”.
The claims were made last week by David Harden, chairman of the world-famous Oxford Farming Conference.
“They wont like me saying this, but what are these people doing all week?,” he asked.
Mr Harden, who is also a Welsh landowner, said hill farmers “run large numbers of sheep round the mountains and they get a very, very handsome return for doing so.”
But his views were rejected by Derek Morgan, chairman of the hill farming committee of the Farmers Union of Wales.
“This is a totally outrageous statement,” said Mr Morgan. “Its all the more disturbing that it should have been made by a farmer in Wales.”
Mr Morgan said that Mr Harden had “little or no understanding” of hill farming.
Consumers are increasingly seeking meat from livestock reared extensively in upland areas, Mr Morgan said.
Hill farm incomes in Wales have fallen by 54% over the past two years and may farmers are living on an annual income of less than £5000.