18 February 2019
Susie and her partner now farm the beef and sheep holding in Jeffreyston near Kilgetty, where she was born and raised.
The couple currently keep around 100 beef cattle for finishing, including a number on the Aberdeen Angus scheme and for the first year have a small suckler herd which they hope to expand. They also recently established a small flock of Llanwenog sheep, which their two young children Iwan (6) and Mari (4) enjoyed showing locally last summer.
After leaving school, Susie attended Coleg Sir Gar Gelli Aur campus, where she obtained her national diploma in agriculture. Not long after, she joined the Farmers’ Union of Wales, where she worked for 13 years as area officer for South Pembrokeshire.
Susie was part time secretary of Martletwy agricultural show for eight years and remains involved with the local YFC where she sits on the advisory committee.
Susie hopes that her own experience of hands-on farming and determination to develop a profitable, sustainable family-run business means she will be a persuasive advocate when it comes to promoting Farming Connect services and events.
“Having come into this new job at a very uncertain time for our industry, I’ll be keen to signpost farmers to the many Farming Connect services and projects available.”
A keen advocate of benchmarking, Susie and her partner are determined to focus on benchmarking the finishing of their stock.
“It’s essential that all farmers know what they should be aiming for, so I will be urging businesses to tap into Farming Connect support to help them compare their facts and figures to those of similar businesses within the same sector so that they can identify areas for improvement,” says Susie.
South Pembrokeshire is an area rich in diversity, with a good mix of dairy, beef and sheep farming but the coastal location and climate also attract a lot of tourism and horticulture enterprises.
“Farming Connect has something to all sectors of farming and forestry including events on diversification, business and technical planning but also specialist projects which can help farmers improve both personal and business development.
“I’ll be urging businesses to find out what’s available to them to help them become more profitable which in turn will drive the industry in Wales forward,”
With this year’s first Farming Connect skills application window open now until 1 March, Susie urges anyone considering applying for up to 80% funding for either business improvement or practical training to get in touch with her. She is also eager to promote the recently announced fully funded animal health workshops and ICT training.
Susie is a regular visitor to Haverfordwest market and also manages five Farming Connect topic-led discussion groups for sheep and dairy farmers and those focusing on young stock.
To contact Susie and find out more about how Farming Connect can benefit you and your business, click here or call Susie on 07867 908193.