Michael Meacher says there is a crisis in agriculture

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I accept that. There is no doubt that we do have the worst crisis in agriculture for many, many years."

Michael Meacher: We inherited the problem

But he added: "That is a situation we inherited, we have of course got to deal with it, but it is not of our own making."

Mr Meacher said Labour had done a great deal to help farmers, although he accepted it was not sufficient and more measures were needed.

Michael Ancram says things have got worse

Conservative party chairman Michael Ancram urged the Government to bolster the ailing sheep market by taking action against imports from abroad.

"We want to hear the voice of the countryside listened to. I'm not saying that this government doesn't care about the countryside, but it doesn't understand the countryside and therefore it ignores the countryside," he said.

Countryside pressure

Meanwhile Agriculture Minister Nick Brown is under growing pressure to take immediate steps to ease farmers' plight.

On Thursday he indicated that he was aware of the depth of the crisis by suggesting that some livestock farmers might be given redundancy payments of up to £40,000.

But on Friday he ruled out direct cash help suggesting farmers were partly to blame for the crisis.

Mr Brown said they had oversupplied the market for two years and there was now no "easy solution".

Farmers are losing cash on almost everything they produce according to industry experts

He ruled out buying up surplus lamb, or culling ewes, because it would be unlawful under EC rules, and warned the Treasury would not provide funds for an early retirement scheme for beef and sheep farmers, if it was not linked to measures to improve competitiveness.

But Conservatives claim thousands of farms will be forced to close, causing millions of animals to suffer and making consumers more dependent on imports, if Mr Brown does not launch a survival plan for livestock farmers.

Tim Yeo, shadow Agriculture Minister, said: "Instead of cynically dismissing the crisis in Welsh farming as a market problem, Labour should be seeking solutions.

"But their hostility to the countryside is so deep and the position of ministers so weak that their policies are making matters worse not better."

He called on the Government to introduce a number of measures, including lifting the beef on the bone ban, reinstating the calf processing aid scheme, securing better labelling on meat products to boost British produce, and allowing greater investment in milk processing facilities.

Animal dumping

The latest farming crisis exploded on to the agenda because of a series of problems on the world market for sheep meat, which has meant rock bottom prices for their skins and wool.

Coming together with overproduction, particularly in Wales, the Government has been forced to address the issue.

But Mr Brown has condemned the actions of some farmers in dumping calves and sheep with no market value in animal sanctuaries, and even phone boxes.

RSPCA officials are considering cruelty charges against "utterly irresponsible" farmers who abandoned a flock of sheep at one of their centres.

The 335 animals were dumped at the charity's Bryn-y-maen base, near Colwyn Bay, north Wales, by 45 farmers who claimed they could not afford to keep them or have them slaughtered.

They were told the centre did not have the facilities to take the sheep, but an inspector became so concerned for their welfare he accepted them and placed them on an accommodating local farm.

However Mr Brown has warned that, since devolution, there is a limit to how much he can intervene in the Welsh crisis.