Welsh Government called on to help farmers hamstrung by endless poor weather and ground conditions

As a result, crops can’t be sown, cattle can’t be let out to grass and lambing has been extremely challenging.

This has all added a huge cost burden on farmers, with some having to buy in additional feed and straw while their stock is housed for extended – and in many cases unforeseen – periods.

The union has put the following key asks forward to Welsh Government to seek help in supporting farmers through the current crisis.

It says Welsh Government needs to show flexibility in the delivery of various scheme requirements, including cross compliance for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and other rural investment schemes, such as the Growing for the Environment Scheme, introducing derogations where necessary.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) must work with farmers and adopt a sensible approach to regulation that demonstrates flexibility and understanding of the on-the-ground conditions.

It said, in order to build longer-term resilience, there is a need for Welsh Government to bring forward the £20m committed to support farmer compliance with the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations without delay.

NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: “Farmers in all sectors are finding the incessant wet weather extremely challenging.

"Livestock businesses are seeing increased expenditure on forage due to having to keep stock housed far longer than they normally would and the conditions are less than ideal for those businesses who have been lambing and calving.

"With autumn planting impossible on many Welsh farms, arable businesses are increasingly concerned that they will not be able get any spring crops planted due to no improvement in the weather and ground conditions.

“The financial pressures and significant challenges posed by this prolonged rainfall are compounded by a range of ongoing issues affecting the industry, including uncertainty over future agricultural policy proposals, agricultural pollution regulations (NVZs) and animal health issues, such as bovine TB and the Schmallenberg virus. This is an awful lot for farmers to contend with and we are very concerned about the mental toll this is taking on our farmers.

“We ask Welsh Government, working with its regulator NRW, to do all it can to assist Welsh farmers at an extremely difficult time. This is a time when sensibility and flexibility should take precedence to ensure that our farming businesses are resilient and can produce food to feed the nation.

“We cannot ignore that the past few months have once again served to illustrate that direct support to farmers has served as a key safety mechanism underpinning their financial resilience.

"It remains imperative that future policy includes a stability measure to ensure our farmers and growers can continue producing food for the nation. Policymakers must also recognise that agricultural land is an irreplaceable national asset.

"Food production is a matter of strategic national importance, alongside the provision of other public goods, and greater emphasis is needed to protect agricultural land in flood risk management policy decisions.”