The first stop for the young farmers was Rhug Estate, owned by Lord Newborough, where they met with Rhug Estate Farm Manager, Emyr Wyn Owen and Low Carbon Project Officer, Mared Williams.
Organic and sustainable
Rhug Estate covers 15,000 acres extending from Gwyddelwern in the north, Carrog to the east, Cynwyd to the south and Maerdy to the west. The group heard how Lord Newborough has championed the highest standards of organic and sustainable farming for many years, with the aim of supporting local rural communities and protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations.
During the afternoon at the Rhug, Emyr and Mared covered a range of topics including how changes to future agriculture policy will affect their business and the estate’s Low Carbon Project, which looks at how the business could reach net zero. This was followed by an insightful farm tour around the solar, poultry, cattle, sheep, bison and farm shop which sells over 3,000 products, with a real focus on Welsh, local and organic.
Rebecca Williams, NFU Cymru Brecon & Radnor Next Generation Group member said: “I’d like to thank Emyr and Mared for allowing us to visit and for the enlightening farm tour. It was excellent to hear about the ongoing work the Rhug is doing to continue to produce quality, nutritious food whilst reducing their carbon footprint, as well as seeing about their growing diversification projects.”
Derwydd Farm
The group then travelled to Derwydd Farm near Corwen, where they met Llŷr Jones, a former member of the NFU Cymru Next Generation Group. Llŷr is a progressive farmer and businessman who is passionate about ensuring the future of the Welsh agricultural industry for many generations to come. He has a diverse farming portfolio, which includes beef, lamb and poultry, but has diversified into other areas, including tourism. The business has also made significant investments in renewables and the mix of hydro, solar power and ground-air-source heating means the business uses energy from 100% renewable sources produced on the farm.
Llŷr, who described himself as entrepreneurial, driven and adaptable, outlined to the group how he has used his strong project-management skills to set up and run a range of successful businesses. The group also enjoyed hearing about Llŷr’s charitable work, as part of Cam wrth Gam (Step by step), which saw him take groups of over 40 volunteers to Africa six times to build schools and orphanages. Recently, his charitable work has seen him make trips to Ukraine to deliver medical supplies and food.
Bryn Perry, NFU Cymru Pembrokeshire Next Generation Group member, said: “On behalf of the group I would like to thank Llŷr for hosting us. It was great to see how he is continuing to drive his business forward by diversifying and embracing new technology. I always come away from these trips motivated to do more with my own business and the visit to Derwydd Farm was no exception.”