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Topic Groups, Agriculture and Rural Land Use

Agriculture is Wales ' principal rural land use, and in Pembrokeshire it equates to 74% of land being used for farming. The majority of this (60%) is down to permanent grassland, and 26% arable. Around 3,500 thousand holdings employ a total labour force of almost 6,000 owners and employees, and overall agriculture in the county accounts for around 7,000 jobs in direct or related farm employment.

Much of inland Pembrokeshire is designated under the EC Less Favoured Areas Directive, although most of the coastal region does not fall within this designation. This implies that much of the land on the coast is of good quality, and relatively high productivity. A large proportion of the county is also designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. There are also a number of woodland areas in Pembrokeshire, and coniferous plantations on the uplands of the Preseli Hills.

Historical agricultural and other activity within the coastal strip and hinterland has shaped the physical structure and visual appearance of the landscape to create the rich and diverse mosaic that we experience.

A few of the issues identified through topic group meetings on this subject were:

• Some farming practices and general lack of maintenance can restrict access on some rural and coastal paths.
• Bacterial and viral loadings of agriculture run-off/discharges can contribute to impacts on shellfish fisheries in estuarial and coastal waters.
• Development of and on rural/coastal land is not always perceived to be compatible with its landscape and environmental context.

This Topic Group was chaired by Stephen Alderman, NFU representative for south Pembrokeshire. To download a full report on this subject in PDF format, including all the issues identified at the meetings, click here.If you would like the document in Welsh, please contact Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum on 01646 696174.

PLEASE NOTE THESE PAPERS WILL NEED REGULAR UPDATING TO REFLECT CHANGES TAKING PLACE AND THE EMERGENCE OF NEW INFORMATION SO ANY FEEDBACK ON THEIR CONTENT IS WELCOMED.