Held at COBRA Rugby Club in Meifod, the audience had a whistle-stop tour of Llŷr’s farm diversifications and learnt about Llŷr’s extensive charity work.
Llŷr, who took over the family farm in 2003 at a young age, is passionate about leaving the farm in a better state than when he got it. This is why he’s expanded the business, diversified for new income streams and made the farm sustainable with the use of renewable energy infrastructure.
Farm diversifications
As well as other enterprises, on his home farm, Llŷr runs a sheep, calf rearing and poultry business, he has also invested in a 25kw hydro system, solar panels and ground source heating in one of his poultry sheds. Llŷr has most recently opened a wild camping area on the farm and welcomes guests to experience the true outdoors on one of the hills overlooking the Snowdonia National Park.
Llŷr said: “I’m always thinking of new ways to diversify the farm, to establish new income streams and be self-sufficient in our energy use all with the goal to ensure its future viability for the next generation.
Renewable energy
“After installing a hydro system and adding solar panels to the roof of our sheds, I was conscious that the farm wasn’t utilising all the energy that we were producing. To help reduce our electricity bills, I installed a ground source heat pump to heat one of my poultry sheds. The benefits of this are two-fold; I’m using my own renewable energy, so reducing my bills, but also each hen eats 3g/day less food when the heating is on – that’s three arctic loads of feed less a year – again helping my bottom line. I have also bought an electric car and an electric gator to make the most of the excess energy we produce.”
In Llŷr’s other poultry shed, the roof is slightly higher, which helps capture the warm air from the hens. This warm air is blown down onto the muck belts, which reduces the water content of the muck by 50% - this has allowed the business to reduce the muck output by half, saving on spreading time and cost.
Big long term savings
Llŷr said: “I’m always looking at small improvements to make big long term savings for not only the business’s bottom line, but for the benefit of the environment.”
Llŷr is continually trying to improve his knowledge and has been part of the Tesco Future Farmers Scholarship, the NFU Cymru Next Generation Group and is now a mentor for the Farming Connect Agri Academy, which he thoroughly enjoys.
Charity work
As well as his other charity work for Ukrainians recently, Llŷr has also been heavily involved with the North Wales charity, Cam wrth Gam, which has provided tangible benefits to people living in developing countries. Through this charity, Llŷr and others have built three schools, created one borehole, fitted three kitchens, provided education for 400 children, helped provide clean food for 600 children and thanks to the borehole, 1,200 people now have clean water.
Llŷr said: “When I get an idea and tell someone about it, I then have to make it happen. This is how a lot of my charity work has come about.”
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones then addressed the audience, where he outlined NFU Cymru’s lobbying work on the Agriculture Wales Act and the ongoing development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme.
NFU Cymru Montgomeryshire County Chairman Richard Jones said: “I’d like to thank Llŷr for his inspirational presentation. I cannot believe how much he’s done and achieved, it’s absolutely mind blowing. Especially implementing his ideas so quickly. We’ve all got a lot to take away from that presentation. I’d also like to thank Aled Jones, for updating us on the latest work of the union and providing some detail on the proposals within the Sustainable Farming Scheme consultation.”
