Farmers and rural communities here in Pembrokeshire face the same two challenges created by Covid-19 as urban areas – overcoming the immediate crisis and planning for the post-pandemic future.

For many of my generation, the pandemic will be one of the most disruptive and enduring experiences of our lifetime.

The human and economic loss wrought by this crisis is unfathomable. We are living through a significant shared experience, one that will change our world.

While our circumstances may differ, we are united by the similar anxieties we have about how we will adapt in the coming months.

What the crisis has done is to shine a light on the role played by those who produce and transport food.

The world cannot function without farmers, farmworkers, packers and lorry drivers.

Seeing empty supermarket shelves was a first for most of us but it did highlight the importance of the excellent work farmers do in making sure shelves are filled with top-quality, good value food.

The family farm plays an important social, environmental and economic role yet before the crisis farmers were under attack from all corners.

They were wrongly accused of being murderers of farm animals, of warming the climate, of destroying wildlife and habitat.

I have often heard farmers comment that the work they do would not be appreciated by the public until there was a food shortage.

Perhaps, with the breakdown of trading relationships around the world, the onset of global pandemics, climate change and population growth, that time is upon us.