Sheep farming, an ancient and iconic institution in rural Wales,
is coming under threat from a number of different angles. Sheep-
raising once dominated Britain’s economy and played a
significant role in the country’s industrial development. In
1660, in fact, wool accounted for two-thirds of the nation’s
exports. While the wool industry has largely vanished from the
landscape, lamb production remains a significant endeavor,
particularly in Wales -- as recently as 2009, sheep accounted
for almost one-fifth (19 percent) of Welsh agricultural output.
About 13,000 sheep farms still operate in Wales today, with
about three times as many jobs related to raising of lambs. On
the whole, British sheep meat exports accounted for about 10
percent of global lamb trade. In a report for the Nuffield
Farming Scholarships Trust, Arwyn Owen -- farm manager at Hafod
y Llan, which is owned by the National Trust, in North Wales --
noted that the climate and poor soil of Wales precluded the
development of agricultural crops, but w