1 October 2018
Gwion Jones is 22, he’s ambitious, hard-working and his long held dream of managing his own farm came true this autumn, when he took over the tenancy of a 200 acre sheep holding close to his family’s organic beef and sheep farm near Machynlleth.
Gwion still lives at home, where he works alongside his father and older brother to manage a flock of around 1,600 Welsh and Cheviot cross ewes, a herd of 60 Welsh Black suckler cows with followers and he also has a part-time job at a neighbouring farm.
Armed with ‘A’ level maths and a business studies diploma from Coleg Meirion Dwyfor, Gwion had always been happy to help with the farm paperwork but he knew that running his own business would present new challenges.
Gwion contacted his local Farming Connect development officer, Owain Pugh, who encouraged him to undertake an online personal development plan (PDP). This enabled Gwion to identify his current skills and those areas of knowledge he needed to develop to assist him with the challenges of running his own business.
“After college, I took a gap year to decide what I really wanted to do in life,” says Gwion, who soon found plenty of opportunities for work and quickly discovered the appeal of a regular wage packet.
He realised that his ultimate goal was to run his own farm business, so made the decision to put all his energy into gaining more practical on-farm experience, despite having been offered a university place.
“I found the PDP very helpful and realised that if I was to run my new business efficiently and not spend hours struggling with tasks such as recording for VAT returns and profit and loss accounts, I needed to develop my business skills.”
Gwion is now running his own flock of 400 Welsh and Cheviot cross ewes but alongside day-to-day animal husbandry, he’s already putting into practice the business skills acquired at a series of subsidised one-day courses he undertook with ‘Simply the Best’, one of Farming Connect’s approved training providers.
“The training has had a significant impact on the way I manage the business and each one of the four courses I completed has already saved me a huge amount of time by giving me a good grasp of topics I would previously have spent hours stressing over.”
“One of the training courses taught me how to understand and use my accounts effectively, which has enabled me to identify areas where I need to make savings and increase profit levels, which could be critical to the future sustainability of the business post Brexit.”
Gwion also completed courses in business planning and development which has helped him set achievable targets; financial recording and leading and managing.
He says these are valuable skills he will need in the years ahead with his long term aim to increase both the amount of acreage he rents and stock numbers, which he hopes will eventually lead to contracting out some of the work.
“I’m able to provide my accountant and bank manager with better data so that’s another time saver.
“I also understand the importance of benchmarking and now compare inputs and outputs at my business with the top-performing farms shown in the Farm Business Survey data published by Aberystwyth University.”
Gwion says that being able to complete each training course in a single day has been critical for him.
“I couldn’t justify spending longer periods away from the business, so these short one day courses were perfect for me.
“We often worked in pairs in a way that suited every type of learner, with plenty of practical exercises and handouts – which I still often refer to – so that we all had a good grasp of the basics and were on the same level when the course ended.”
Not one to let the grass grow under his feet, Gwion is planning to start his own herd of cattle soon.
He has already applied for funding for a marketing course and he plans to undertake some of Farming Connect’s fully funded interactive e-learning modules which will enable him to study a wide range of both practical and business skills in his own time from the convenience of home.
If you are interested in applying for Farming Connect training, which is funded by up to 80% for eligible farmers and foresters, the final skills application window of 2018 opens on Monday 1 October and closes on Friday 26 October 2018.
Before you can submit an online application form you must be registered with Farming Connect, provide a unique email address and register with the Business Wales BOSS website where you can access your online personal development plan (PDP), e-learning courses, the funding application form and view a record of your continual professional development activity.
A list of all Farming Connect accredited training courses, together with a list of approved training providers and guidance on completing a PDP are available here.
For further information or guidance on Farming Connect training, services and events which could benefit your business, contact your local development officer whose details are available here on the Farming Connect website.