03 March 2025
A forward-thinking Welsh dairy farm is embracing training opportunities to advance the business.
Improving performance is a must for any farm business in today’s volatile market but doing so is often easier said than done, especially without outside help.
That’s why the Gibbin family and their staff have been seizing opportunities available through Farming Connect, from signing up to skills and training courses and one-to-one advice clinics to joining discussion groups facilitated by industry experts.
Gethin and Eleri Gibbin farm 223 hectares (ha) at Drefach Farm, near Whitland, Carmarthenshire, where they produce milk from the 330-head autumn calving Llangan herd of Holstein Friesians and run a flock of pedigree Charollais sheep.
It is very much a family business with the couple’s youngest son, Lewis, a student at Harper Adams University, farming with them, and their other two children, vet Owain and trainee solicitor Elen, taking a keen interest too.
The farm team includes a full-time member of staff and relief milkers.
Gethin is the second generation of his family to farm at Drefach where his parents, Owen and Beryl, first produced milk.
Four years ago, there was a major investment in a new dairy infrastructure, including a 50-point rotary parlour and state-of-the-art housing facilities.
Recent investment includes a robot feeding wagon which removes the need for labour input as the machine does this whenever fresh silage is required, day or night.
It is a pioneering investment as the machine, manufactured by Austrian company, Hetwin, which is powered by solar energy and moves around on magnets, is the first in the UK.
Sharing ideas, problems and solutions with like-minded farmers has played an important role in the development of the business.
Gethin and Eleri are both members of Farming Connect discussion groups – the two Gethin attends have a dairy business and grassland focus while for Eleri it is sheep.
During a year when the weather has put pressure on everything from grassland production to the maize harvest, having that support has been invaluable.
“The grass was late getting going because of the cold, wet spring so we were about a month later turning the cows out and then we had grass in abundance so there were a lot of grassland management decisions that needed to be made,’’ Gethin explains.
“We cut a lot of the grazing fields for silage to try to get back on track after the late turnout.’’
Silage is produced from a multi-cut system, averaging five cuts a year.
“We had a light first cut and the successive four cuts were very quick,’’ says Gethin.
Sheep farmers also felt the impact of that wet spring and for Eleri advice and guidance from sheep veterinary consultant, Phillipa Page, who facilitates the Farming Connect discussion group that she is a member of, was important.
Eleri has been a member of that group for three years.
“We are such a mixed and diverse group of shepherds, from a small, mostly pedigree flock like ours to hill flocks with thousands of sheep at the other end of the scale, everyone has something to offer,’’ she says.
“We all learn from each other, it is a really, really good group to be a part of.’’
Eleri has also gained valuable knowledge from Phillipa’s input.
“Phillipa has a vast knowledge about sheep and she is so encouraging.
“We take a break over lambing but we continue with our WhatsApp group and that can be good for emotional support at that time of the year as much as anything.’’
Farming Connect has provided further support to the business through its Advisory Service, including technical advice on animal health welfare and biosecurity and grassland and crop management, and with business planning.
The Gibbin family has also taken advantage of a range of Farming Connect events, clinics and surgeries, from soils and animal health clinics to lamb finishing efficiency and beef and sheep nutrition support.
“It is about educating yourself and not resting back and thinking you know it all, even when you have been doing it for years, because there are new advancements all the time,’’ Eleri points out.
Upskilling is another area they have embraced, taking a proactive approach to training and learning opportunities.
“We always give training opportunities to staff, ask them what they would like to do, because if they can follow that interest, it benefits them and the farm too,’’ says Eleri.
The training and skills courses are 80% funded by Farming Connect.
For Gethin, one of these provided the opportunity to comply with regulations around veterinary medicines.
“Someone in the business had to have the certificate so it was good to have the opportunity to get that done and to have it 80% funded.’’
Many of the courses are online and this has made them more accessible, he adds.
“Farmers are time restricted so it’s good to have the chance to do courses on-line but to also have in-person meetings too because for some people a meeting or a group discussion is a social event, which allows them to network and engage with others.’’
He urged farmers to take advantage of what is on offer through Farming Connect.
“An old boss once told me years ago to never refuse a good offer, these courses are 80% funded and there is not a lot in farming that has that level of support.
“There are always a million and one other things to do on a farm but it is definitely worth making time for these.’’
Eleri points out that it is a form of continual professional development (CPD).
“In other professions there is CPD and what is on offer through Farming Connect enables self-development in farming.’’
To hear more about the Gibbin family’s story watch the latest episode of FCTV