Gwern Thomas

Felinfach, Ceredigion

Gwern Thomas balances running two farming businesses with providing a farm support service to other farmers.

As a boy Gwern dreamt of making a living from the land and he is now doing that, not only milking sheep in a joint farming agreement, Penwern Agriculture, but producing fat lambs and store cattle too on his uncle’s farm.

At Penwern Agriculture he has established a 110-ewe dairy sheep enterprise on his business partner’s 49-hectare farm, with the milk sold for processing into cheese. 

Alongside that business, Gwern farms 20 hectares with his uncle, with sheep kept to produce fat lambs and calves reared to sell as stores. 

A rotational grazing system is in place on both farms.

As if the combination of those two businesses doesn’t keep him busy enough, Gwern also has a business helping farmers with machinery work, cattle handling jobs, soil sampling and many other tasks, with the income he earns from that used to help fund the development of both businesses.

When he does have any time to spare from his busy work schedule, he is a very active member of Felinfach YFC and is currently participating in the Wales YFC Agri Eye agricultural studies scheme.

Now as a member of the 2023 Farming Connect Agri Academy, he is eager to capitalise on the specialist knowledge and research opportunities that will offer, to help him realise his dream of growing the business.

He describes winning a place on the Business & Innovation Programme as a “golden opportunity’’.