Tonight I'm delighted to be staying in Wales and heading down to Brecon in Powys to talk to farmer and new President of NFU Cymru, John Davies.

We talk about the family farm near the village of Merthyr Cynnog and the various enterprises they have there, including 100 suckler cows, finishing Welsh Black Cattle, 1000 ewes, and a contracting business covering 2000 acres of grass silage production for neighbouring farms. 

We also discuss the 3 holiday units that they renovated to a very high standard from derelict farm buildings, and now rent out to tourists - epyntholidays.co.uk 

We go into the various events they've held on the farm, from YFC rally, through to the very first Royal Welsh Grassland event in 2012, which happened to be the wettest June day in living memory!

We discuss the huge role that Young Farmer's Club has played in his life, from being National Chairman to meeting his wife Menna ,and some of the experiences that he had along the way, as well as a local history project that he was involved in 'Cofio'r Epynt' which looked at the impact to the area when 52 families had to be moved at short notice in 1939 to create an army training area.

We also talk about his time as Chairman of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, and his role in organising the biggest Ag show in Europe, The Royal Welsh Show.

We then discuss at length NFU Cymru (Wales National Farmer's Union), and how he feels to be elected President. We talk about some of the issues facing Welsh farmers at the moment, the importance of securing a free trade deal with Europe, and how vital it is for people to get involved and support the organisation. We also discuss what it's like to stand up and stick your head above the parapet, and how important it is to have good friends and family around you, and what motivates John to take on a high profile role like this.

All this and much more. John's a fantastic representative for Welsh farming and a great guy, and it was an absolute pleasure to talk to him tonight. Check it out folks.. 

 

 

This episode is kindly sponsored by NFU Cymru. For more information please visit www.nfu-cymru.org.uk or www.rockandrollfarming.com