North Wales Study Tour – Taith Astudio Gogledd Cymru – Chwefror 2026
Join Pasture for Life on the 3rd and 4th of February, visiting one dairy and two beef and sheep farms who focus on productivity from forage
BOOK HERE: North Wales Study Tour – Taith Astudio Gogledd Cymru Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
Welsh below
Day 1 (03/02/26) -We will meet at Rhiwgriafol near Machynlleth for a cold buffet lunch, before 1st generation tenant farmer Rhidian Glyn will give us a brief introduction to his enterprise and a farm tour – which consists of a spring calving herd of 260 Kiwi Cross dairy cows and a flock of 350 Welsh Improved, performance recorded ewes.
Rhidian and Elen started farming in Rhiwgriafol in 2014. Then, they contract reared 30 dairy heifers and bought 880 ewes off the landlord. Since, they have sold some of their ewes and become new entrant dairy farmers, milking their first cow at Rhiwgriafol in March 2023.
Afterwards we will travel north to Betws Y Coed, where there is plenty of accomodation available and dinner will be held at the Royal Oak for those who wish to join.
Day 2 (04/02/26)- In the morning, we will visit Sian and Llion Jones who farm Sian’s family farm Moelogan Fawr, since 2018. Before moving back to Moelogan Fawr, they were tennant farmers on a National Trust farm in Penmachno.
They have a heard of 150 Stabiliser cattle and 850 Tal Y Bont Welsh ewes.
Their main focus is to produce beef and lamb enteriley off pasture, and their goal is to breed from animals who perform well in their system. They use genetics to assist, and performance record their animals.
They also put great emphasis on soil health, biodiversity and the long term sustainability of the farm – reducing their needs for inputs.
In the afternoon we will travel to meet farmer Gwion Owen from Hendre Arddwyfaen, where we will have lunch. Gwion farms 1200 acres across four farms in the area, has a herd of over 400 Stabiliser cattle of which 150 are outwintered and just over 2000 breeding ewes. His objectives have been to improve grassland utilisation and reduced winter feed requirements and costs, whilst increasing performance and efficiency of the cows and ewes. He has very strict breeding policies to ensure the best animals that are well adapted to his farm are bred from for improved productivity and efficiency.
Diwrnod 1- Mi fydden yn cyfarfod yn Rhiwgriafol, Machynlleth am ginio, lle gawn ni gyfarfod a Rhidian Glyn, tennant a ffermwr cenhedlaeth 1af fydd yn rhoi trosolwg a cefndir y fferm cyn mynd am daith o’i hamgylch. Mae Rhidian yn godro 260 o fuchod Kiwi Cross ac gydag diadell o 350 o ddefaid Cymraeg.
Mae Rhidian ac Elen wedi bod yn ffermio yn Rhiwgriafol ers 2014. Bryd hynnu, roeddynt yn magu 30 o heffrod godro ar gontract ac prynnwyd 880 o ddefaid gan y perchennog. Erbyn heddiw, maent wedi gwerthu rhywfaint o’r defaid ac wedi dechrau godro ers mis Mawrth 2023.
Wedyn mi fydden yn trafeilio i Betws Y Coed am swper i rhywun sydd eisiau ymuno, lle mae digon o lety ar gael.
Diwrnod 2 – Yn y bore, mi fydden yn ymweld ag Sian a Llion Jones sydd yn ffermio yn Moelogan Fawr, ger Llanrwst, ers 2018, sef fferm deuluol Sian. Cyn symud i Moelogan Fawr, roeddent yn denantiaid ar fferm yr Ymrioldoliaeth Genedlaethol ym Menmachno.
Eu prif ffocws yw cynhyrchu stoc bridio, cig eidion a chig oen o systemau pori sy’n seiliedig ar borfa. Mae’r stoc yn cynnwys tua 850 o ddefaid Tal Y Bont Cymraeg, a buches sugno o wartheg Stabiliser. Mae’r system wedi’i chynllunio i gynhyrchu perfformiad da o borfa yn unig neu bron yn gyfan gwbl, er gwaethaf yr amodau heriol. Eu bwriad yw magu anifeiliaid sy’n perfformio’n dda ar borfa, ond sydd hefyd yn addas i’r farchnad fasnachol.
Mae ffocws y fferm hefyd ar wella geneteg drwy ddefnyddio data fel cymorth i dethol stoc cryf, a chadw systemau syml ac effeithlon. Mae cryn bwyslais hefyd ar wella iechyd y pridd, bioamrywiaeth, a gwydnwch y fferm yn y tymor hir, yn ogystal â lleihau dibyniaeth ar fewnbynnau prynedig.
Yn y prynhawn mi fydden yn trafeilio i ymweld a Gwion Owen, Hendre Arddwyfaen, lle gawn ginio. Mae Gwion yn ffermio 1200 acer drost bedwar fferm yn yr ardal, mae ganddo oeddetu 400 o wartheg Stabiliser, gydag 150 yn cael eu geafu tu allan, a drost 2000 o ddefaid Cymraeg.
Amcan Gwion yw gwella defnydd o borfa ac lleihau costau gaeafu, drwy wella perfformiaid ei fuches a’i ddiadell, a magu gwartheg a defaid sydd wedi addasu i’r tirwedd
Pasture for Life – North Wales Study Tour October 2025
14th & 15th October 2025
Welcome to Galwad! North Wales Wildlife Trust’s farm advisory service, which has launched its events programme in partnership with Pasture for Life, with the first North Wales Study Tour of three regenerative farm businesses at different stages of transitioning to 100% pasture based systems.
The first day’s visit was hosted by Flora and Richard Price of Rhiwlas Farm in Bala, on the eastern edge of Eryri National Park. Rhiwlas is a beef, sheep and dairy farm that has been Pasture for Life certified since 2021. We convoyed up onto their open mountain moor to see their pedigree herd of Welsh black cattle, which are managed by their stockman Deio Williams. He explained how the regular movement of the herd is helping to restore a mosaic of heathland, peatland and grassland habitats across the 800ha of SSSI. Discussions focused on not being too concerned about livestock numbers, but rather it is the effect of regular movement of animals and ground disturbance that reduces the extent of pernicious grasses like mat-grass (Nardus stricta) and purple-moor grass (Molinia), allowing more herbs and native grasses to flourish. The in-bye land was grazed by 800 Welsh mountain sheep and Deio explained how he follows the traditional hefting of sheep across the mountain and is interested in offering the higher value Welsh mountain lamb to markets locally. We then travelled down to the lower ground near Llyn Tegid to see the dairy herd of 450 KiwiCross cows, where Richard Price explained the reliability and flexibility of milk production from the share-farm enterprise with Iwan Jones. Their system is pasture-based and includes a nurse cow herd to raise the replacements. They manage the farm holistically, moving the cows on a daily basis, giving the ground rest periods of 21-50 days depending on the season and use less than 15kg per hectare of nitrogen across the whole farm.
The second day started with a visit to Caedicws Farm, a beautifully situated farm at the top of the Ceiriog Valley in Wrexham. Recently acquired by Claire Whittle, the Regenerative Vet and Nuffield Farm Scholar. Claire runs a herd of 20 cows, Belted Galloways and Angus with a Riggit Galloway bull, chosen because of their hardiness and their need to be outwintered on the exposed and rough grazing ground on the farm. Claire explained how she intends to increase cow numbers and diversify the farm as much as possible, integrating areas of agroforestry, offering fields to local market gardeners, growing of heritage grains and meadow restoration! Claire has started breaking up the larger fields into smaller ones by planting new hedgerows for wildlife, but also to provide more shelter and shade for her cattle and to build organic matter and structure to the soil, noticeable with the appearance of invertebrates including dung beetles! Some fields are set aside for hay production as well as supporting the conservation of curlew and other farmland birds. As a vet, Claire offered some extremely helpful advice for those farmers wishing to move towards 100% pasture based systems, specifically the importance of keeping water troughs clean to prevent spread of disease and how her Arrowquip cattle crush enables safe and effective cattle handling and veterinary intervention.
In the afternoon we then headed over to Pentrefelin Farm in the Vale of Clwyd. We were hosted by Huw Foulkes, who runs a regenerative dairy farm with 20 redpoll cows, a dual purpose breed producing milk and beef. Huw took over the family farm to offer direct sales of 100% pasture fed milk and beef, as well as opening up the farm to other regenerative enterprises including market gardener Phil Lewis, who produces organic fruit and vegetables. Pentrefelin sits on freely-draining sandy loam soils, and Huw explained how the low-lying land is vulnerable to increasing drought. He showed us how he manages areas of permanent pasture and herbal leys through mob grazing with rest periods of 90 days, as well as a crop of highly productive lucerne to carry the cattle through the winter months.
This is a calf at foot dairy system where the calf stays with the mother for 6-9 months, with the majority being born in the spring they are weaned going into the winter. Huw explained how introducing a grass nut as feed in the parlour has greatly improved the ease of milking as previously the calves came into the parlour with the cows! Further diversification on the farm has included intercropping with rows of fruit trees, Muscovy ducks which follow the cows and hoover up parasites as well as contributing to the nutrient cycling of the fields. There is also a well-stocked farm shop open 24 hours a day, and Huw is now planning a broiler enterprise where he sees added value from chicken produced following regenerative principles, with no use of fertilisers or pesticides anywhere on the farm.
Pasture for Life and North Wales Wildlife Trust would like to thank the host farmers for sharing their insights and enthusiasm for pasture-based farming, and wish them continued success into the future!
If you would like advice on how to transition towards 100% pasture based systems, and how this can be supported through the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme contact a Galwad or Pasture for Life officer here.