Lisa Powell

MONMOUTHSHIRE, TORFAEN AND BLAENAU GWENT

Lisa Powell is the Farming Connect development officer for Monmouth, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent.

Lisa is a graduate of Harper Adams University, where she obtained a BSc in agriculture and animal science. She also received the prestigious Worshipful Company of Woolmen Award for the best sheep-based investigational project.  

After graduating, she embarked on a backpacking visit to East Africa, when she had the opportunity to get up close to gorillas in their natural habitat, and climbed to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro! In recent years, she has worked on numerous agriculture programmes in both the West Midlands and Wales, helping farmers, foresters and rural micro-businesses to access support and funding.

Lisa now farms in Radnorshire at her husband’s upland family farm. They currently have a suckler herd of Limousin cross and Saler cross cows, using a Charloais bull as terminal sire and Saler bull for breeding their own replacements, but plan to move towards a Saler herd for ease of calving and hardiness. A flock of Welsh mule ewes are put to Texel tups to produce prime lambs, which are finished and sold through local livestock markets. The family is working towards finishing all lambs off grass and forage crops and using EID to maximise productivity.

Well-known in Radnorshire farming circles, Lisa is a former club chair of her local YFC, currently club leader and also sits on the county stock judging committee.  

“It’s been several years since I worked on Farming Connect’s red meat programme with Hybu Cig Cymru, but it’s really exciting to see that the whole service has developed and grown so much.

"Farming Connect can provide so much to help businesses prepare for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

“My role is to signpost businesses to the optimum suite of support services available to help them develop at a personal, business and technical level.

“With support from Farming Connect, businesses can put themselves in the best possible position by reducing costs, increasing productivity, maximising efficiency and looking at the best diversification options.”

You might well spot Lisa at Raglan Market, and she also facilitates a number of fully-subscribed beef and sheep discussion groups.