North Wales beef and sheep farming father and daughter team, Glyn Roberts and Beca Glyn, have raised concerns about proposed farming schemes and issues that present barriers to thriving, sustainable, family farms in Wales, when they welcomed Welsh Agriculture Minister Lesley Griffiths to their farm.

Taking Lesley Griffiths around the cattle shed and the fields at Dylasau Uchaf, Glyn Roberts highlighted some of the measures they have put in place to make their farming practices more sustainable. The Minister heard how different bedding for the cattle, such as padded slats instead of plain concrete slats in the cattle sheds, can make a difference of 500 - 600 grams a day of live weight gain to cattle on the same diet.

Explaining what else they have done to reduce emissions on the farm, Beca explained: “We’ve had a carbon audit done here at the farm and taking some of the results into account we had to look at how and where we can improve the way we farm. The results from the audit showed that the cattle are better than average in their carbon footprint for this type of farm and the sheep are performing at about average. It makes sense that we are better than average with the cattle because we’ve changed the breed and nature of the cows we keep here.

“We now keep a much smaller, more efficient cow, and have moved away from the continental breeds which weighed about 800kg to 900 kg. The smaller breeds we keep now are about 550kg to 600 kg. The ratio of weaning weight of progeny and live weight of the cow is now also much better.”

Glyn is clear that there are many other efficiency factors which contribute to the carbon footprint and emissions. “At the moment all our cows calve as heifers at 2 years old, and that’s a big help. The continental cows would calve at 2.5 to 3 years old. So we would have an extra 12 months of emissions on the farm - that’s now being addressed.

“We are always looking for innovative measures that can help us be more efficient in our farming methods. Every industry can make improvements to how it operates and farming is no exception,” said Glyn Roberts.

Looking at the efficiency of the livestock however is only one aspect of the work being done here to ensure the farming system keeps its carbon footprint low. For instance Beca and Glyn now use a rotational grazing system which allows them to grow the same amount of grass whilst reducing the amount of fertiliser that they use.

The father and daughter team hasn’t stopped there and further improvements to the farming system included blocking some of the ditches on the ffridd on the mountain, restricting water run-off into the Conwy river, and addressing potential soil erosion they have also put in place hard standings for the livestock feeding stations in the fields. Culverts were also created to go over ditches so that the tractor doesn’t have to drive through them and dirty the water.

Beca Glyn added: “In the last 25 years we have planted 4.5 miles of hedging on the farm and we have also planted about 300 native deciduous trees in patches across the farm. Choosing where to plant them was done in cooperation with the National Trust warden to make sure they are in the right places. The right tree in the right place remains our mantra but they must form part of a wider sustainable farming approach.”

The Minister also saw how they have addressed potential water pollution problems on the farm. 30 years ago, Glyn worked with the National Trust and the Environment Agency (now NRW) to put measures in place that would see the establishment of a Willow tree water filtration system and this continues to operate on the holding, dealing with any dirty water issues.

Union officials who joined the visit also addressed the issue of capping on payments. Concerns that mainstream Glastir contracts will not be extended next year were also highlighted and the Minister heard how this will cause major concerns across the industry both in terms of the implications for farm businesses and the practicalities of designing and introducing a new replacement scheme over a period of just a few months.

FUW President Ian Rickman said: “Another issue that we have repeatedly discussed and highlighted in our conversations with the Minister, in fact since the proposals were first published, is of course the issue of the proposed requirement for 10% tree cover as part of the Sustainable Farming Scheme. We were able to show Lesley Griffiths first hand here at Dylasau Uchaf what can and has worked and what makes certain planting targets and ambitions unworkable.”

Mr Rickman added that the whole farm approach must be taken into consideration and that when looking at mitigating climate change other measures such as improving livestock efficiency and renewable energy production must be part of the solution.