West Wales farmers are facing their toughest challenges in recent years as the Ukraine conflict continues to hit the European ‘bread basket’.

With Russian and the Ukraine responsible for 30 per cent of the global wheat production and around 30 per cent of maize which is imported to Britain, the cost implications for food producers is bleak.

“The reality is that every ounce of food that these nations are unable to produce will come out of the mouths of the poorest people in the world,” said Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales.

“And there’s no doubt that this is presenting a very serious and difficult situation for our farmers.”

In addition to the sharp rise in fuel prices, fertiliser costs have seen a considerable price increase as around half of the world’s population is reliant upon food fertilised by artificial nitrogen made from gas.

Welsh farmers have also seen the price of fertiliser surge by up to fourfold with farmers currently having to pay almost £1,000 per tonne.

Mr Campbell’s fears have been echoed by Welsh farming unions, with Glyn Roberts, President of the Farmer’s Union of Wales (FUW)  expressing concern over the likely impact of the conflict on Welsh farmers and global food supplies.

Cefin Campbell raised the issue during questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs earlier this week and after listening to his address, Lesley Griffiths supported Mr Campell.

“I don’t disagree with anything you say,” he said.

“We know that there’s a significant increase in input costs faced by our agricultural producers in recent months and this has been exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine.”

Mr Griffiths went on to say that discussions are ongoing with his counterparts from the UK governments and Scotland.

“We’re working closely to monitor the position; the internal technical group between the four Governments advises us as Ministers in relation to these issues, and I'm in regular contact with many of our stakeholders, who certainly tell me that the prices of the commodities you refer to are having a severe impact.”