>>>>>Even New Zealand can't compete with pork from the 3rd world- not least because intensive pork farming is unaffected by climate and because external producers don't apply the quality and workforce protections required in the first world. Either the sector is conceded to the cheaper foreign producers or something has to change to justify more expensive local produce. Simple as that.
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>>>>And the UK can't compete with NZ lamb prices. Mainly, I guess, because of the price of farmland (pushing £4,000 per acre) here which bears no relation to the possible agiricultural returns.....
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>>>NZ has 4 million people and 80 million sheep. Really.
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>>Wales has about 3 million people and ~33 million sheep - so about half as many sheep/person?
>>But Wales is probably 10 times smaller then NZ so the number of sheep per sq Km is WAY higher......
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>But you need to compare the surface one can use too. For what I know wales is flat - compared with NZ. ::)

Not that flat! Most sheep production is in the upland areas - open moorland between 1000-3000 ft which would have no alternative farming use. And probably 90% of the population is packed into 10% of the country within a few miles of the south coast.