Family celebrate NFU Cymru/Wynnstay Sustainable Agriculture Award

The Morgan family, from Pwllyrhwyaid Farm, Talybont on Usk, near Brecon were winners of this year’s NFU Cymru/Wynnstay Sustainable Agriculture Award.

The award, which was first presented in 2019, recognises a commitment to the economic, environmental, social and cultural wellbeing of Wales.

Glasnant and Linda Morgan, along with their son Huw and his wife Claire, were presented with a prize of £500 and a Welsh slate engraved barometer.

The Morgan family farm is predominately grassland, incorporating new grassland species and rotational root crops, where appropriate, into a traditional, rotational style of farming. They have a flock of breeding ewes plus replacements, as well as a herd of suckler cows, used in a mixed grazing system to reduce worm burden. Calves are sold as forward stores.

Pwllyrhwyaid Farm, located within the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, boasts a tremendous view but the topography must be respected, with steep terrain as the farm backs onto Buckland Manor.

Accommodating trees and woodland in their landscape, the farm has a number of planted hedgerows, managed woodland, flora and fauna which sees an abundance of wildlife. Fields are regularly soil tested and limed if needed.  All stock is bedded on bracken.

Huw is a tremendous hedge layer and has laid many hedgerows across the farm. He is also skilled in dry stone walling and has rebuilt a number of walls for wildlife habitat across the farm. Huw and Claire’s son, Ellis, has also carried on the traditional craft.

The family generate an income from solar panels and biomass boilers, and the farmhouse is heated using renewable energy. There is also a small hydro set up on the farm, which is well established.

Glasnant and Linda have two other sons, Eurin and Ceri who both work off farm.

While Huw now looks after the day-to-day running of the farm, his parents are still involved in farm and community life. During the summer, along with a number of local farmers, Glasnant assisted the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (BBNPA) with a curlew project. The farmers involved are farming in a sustainable way and in doing so providing a hospitable environment for the curlews to nest. He is also part of the Talybont on Usk Livestock Market Committee.

Linda also works with the BBNPA in her role as secretary for the Buckland Manor Commons Association, where she ensures correct grazing levels are adhered to as well as maintaining dialogue with the authority and the MOD.

The Morgan family also run ‘Aber Valley Apple Juice’, an apple juice business that uses apples from the farm and is sold all across Wales. This link to the local community is one Huw and Claire are very passionate about.

A family of Welsh speakers, Huw’s wife Claire, who is originally from Wolverhampton, learnt Welsh when she married Huw, and their children attended Ysgol Y Bannau, where Claire also previously worked. She now teaches Welsh lessons locally.

Hedd Pugh, NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman, one of the judges for the award, said: “I’d like to congratulate the Morgan family on winning this award. It’s great to see such a close-knit family unit who run a farm, a successful apple juice business, take part in community projects all while doing all they can to look after the environment. The family are very well respected within the local community and the wide and varied roles that they play in education and their interaction with the general public makes them true Sustainable Agriculture Champions, a shining example of the contribution that Welsh farmers make to the economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being of Wales.

Bryn Hughes, National Sheep & Beef Specialist at Wynnstay, who also judged the award said: “Wynnstay are very pleased to be sponsors of the Sustainable Agriculture award. The standard of entries and the finalists for this year’s award show the quality and diversity of our farming across Wales. In an ever-changing economic and political environment, sustainable agriculture is key to the long-term prosperity of our farm businesses and to underpinning a thriving agri-food supply chain in Wales.”