Farmers attack Welsh Assembly over animal burials He said: "It's taken 11 days for us to get an answer and, as I understand, Mrs Glossop said we could have buried these without asking Europe so why did we wait so long before getting an answer back? The middle of next week is not going to be enough. Sheep are beginning to pop up, ponies are still beginning to pop up. That [snow] is not going to move for three or four weeks, what is seven days? It's laughable in my opinion. I am thankful for it and some of the sheep have gone now, but it's not enough. John Owen, of the Welsh National Farmers" Union, told the Telegraph he expected the Welsh Assembly to extend the seven-day window but warned that otherwise farmers would be forced to have their animals collected at a cost of £12-20 per head. He said: "This regulation has been in place for a few years now. It is just a huge extra cost for a sheep farmer. We bury humans in the ground so why can we not bury animals as farmers have been doing for hundreds of years? It is a regulation so unfortunately it is one that as an industry we have to work around, but it is a huge cost to the industry. Official figures show that the National Fallen Stock Company, which collects dead livestock from farms across Britain, removed 20,000 more sheep between January and March this year compared with the same period in 2012 - an increase of 15 per cent. Mr Owen said: "A lot of farmers have lost a lot of their animals under this snow, and the snow is receding but in areas that have been worst affected the conditions are still diabolical. It has to be seen to be believed. The Welsh Assembly said the order permitting burials on farm land could be extended beyond Tuesday, but added that no subsidies would be available to compensate farmers.