Pig farmers at Royal Welsh Show talk of 'crisis'

'Time is running out' - that's the warning from Welsh pig farmers who say the industry is no longer viable. They say they cannot compete with cheaper foreign imports and are struggling to survive.

ITV Wales first reported on the plight of the Welsh pig four years ago. Then the breed was facing extinction, and though numbers are now faring better, the pig industry remains a tough business for Welsh farmers.

Ken Austin, from Gower, has the largest herd of pedigree Welsh pigs in the UK. He has won awards for the quality of his pork. But he says local butchers or bigger supermarkets will not stock his meat because they can get it cheaper from the continent, where the pig industry is subsidised.

In Britain the lamb and beef industries are both subsidised by the UK government, and Ken says unless pork gets the same help, we will see Welsh pig farms become a thing of the past. He also wants to see modern technology being used to try and stop foreign meat being labelled as British.

Ken breeds five litters of piglets every week, and says the Royal Welsh Show does help promote the pig industry. He has been a prizewinner there many times and says the event is a shop window for Welsh farming. But he fears that a lot more needs to be done for people like him.