Why Phillip would be a good mentor

  • Phillip has a wealth of practical knowledge and enthusiasm for adopting new technologies and encouraging knowledge transfer to assist the next generation in developing their businesses
  • His involvement as a Farming Connect demonstration farm has increased his enthusiasm for knowledge transfer. Since being a demonstration farm, their grassland management has improved significantly and they have gone from buying in cake to being self-sufficient in protein through red clover leys. They were buying about 17 tonnes of concentrates a year but they no longer buy in for the young stock. As well as saving money on concentrates, they have saved money by targeted reseeding. They are making the most of the best fields and have a rotational reseeding programme, which has improved the land, which is another benefit
  • They are working hard on suckler cow efficiency by weighing the cows and calves regularly. Targeting the cows to wean calves at 50% of their bodyweight, this helps with monitoring performance as they can see which cows are performing well and which are not
  • Having spent years improving genetics by using better bulls and AI on part of the herd, they have now reached the point where they can calve heifers down at two years old. They try to match EBVs to their requirements. Phillip believes that the figures are just as important as the look of the bull
  • Agricultural students from Coleg Sir Gar visit the farm frequently and Phillip attends the college to present information regarding his farming system. Phillip thoroughly enjoys chatting with the students, and their enthusiasm for learning has developed his skills in terms of questioning techniques
  • The interview Phillip completed while competing in the Farmers Weekly awards was extremely challenging in terms of technical knowledge and overall business management skills. It helped him greatly in terms of looking at the whole system and thinking outside the box
  • Having experience of public speaking competitions, as well as being a community councillor over the last 10 years has provided Phillip with plenty of experience of communication skills. He is also a fluent Welsh speaker. His experiences as a community councillor and as an organic farmer have also taught him the virtue of patience!

Current farm business

  • 400 acres, including 200 acres of owned land and 200 acres rented from a neighbouring farm. Upland farm in a Less Favoured Area
  • All land farmed organically since 2006
  • Glastir Organic scheme
  • Alongside myself and family, contractors are employed for major operations such as silage and slurry work
  • 100 organic suckler cows and followers, mostly Limousin crosses. Total stock running at around 200. Cows are spring calving, with calves sold as yearlings. Some heifers kept as breeding replacements
  • Tack sheep are taken over the winter which complements the suckler enterprise well

Qualifications/ achievements/ experience

  • Farmers Weekly Beef Farmer of the Year 2013
  • Hybu Cig Cymru and Farming Connect Demonstration Farm 2009 - 2014
  • 32 years of practical experience in managing the farm
  • YTS day release course, Pibwr Lwyd College 
  • Member of the technical committee of the Quality Welsh Food Certification (QWFC) body

TOP TIPS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

“Keep your to do list short, and see it through.”


“Make sure you do plenty of research before making decisions. This applies across the whole business.”


“A good business should be able to run smoothly on its own, so put measures in place and adopt systems that will help achieve that.”


“Just keep it simple.”

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