Two Brecon livestock farmers have been announced as this year's Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC) Scholars at the Royal Welsh Show.
Dan Jones from Llandudno and Tudor Roderick from Brecon have been announced as the 2023 HCC Scholars during the Royal Welsh Show in Builth Wells.
The duo will be undertaking research trips to study conservation management and anthelmintic usage on sheep farms around the world.
Jones, a National Trust tenant farmer on the Great Orme, is intending to study farming practices in the USA and the UK to understand the latest techniques and advances in conservation grazing and upland farming. The US Sheep Experimentation Station, the Montana Highland Ranch and Bangor University will all form stops on his Scholarship tour.
On being appointed as a HCC Scholar, Jones commented: "There are farms in the United States which are actively adding key conservation practices to their farming systems. There are a number of pilot ranches which are able to store more carbon in the soil than what they emit in their own farming system as well as research into the relationship between grazing, soil health and carbon sequestration.
"The HCC Scholarship will enable me to learn from a range of farming systems, gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced and, crucially, share this bank of knowledge and first-hand experience with colleagues and counter-parts across the industry."
Jones farms with his wife Ceri and son Efan on the Great Orme near Llandudno, managing a flock of 600 breeding ewes and over 900 acres of open access land. Dan has a keen interest in conservation through his work on the farm and utilises traditional shepherding techniques on the upland farm as well as engaging with the public on conservation and farming issues.
"The HCC Scholarship will allow me to seek new ideas and bring knowledge back to the Welsh sheep industry."
Tudor Roderick
Tudor Roderick, a recent agriculture graduate from Aberystwyth University, works on the family farm in the heart of the Bannau Brycheiniog. Australia will be his scholarship destination and he is focusing on sheep enterprises in Australia and their approach to anthelmintic resistance, a key topic within Welsh and UK agriculture, as well as understanding how they cope with extreme weather scenarios. Tudor follows in the footsteps of his father Richard who was also a HCC Scholar in 2016.
Tudor explained: "The Welsh sheep industry currently faces numerous challenges which range from policy and trade, the environment, and the increasing pressure to reduce anthelmintic resistance and antibiotic usage.
"The HCC Scholarship will allow me to seek new ideas and bring knowledge back to the Welsh sheep industry. I’m particularly interested in their practice of breeding replacements with higher resilience to perform with a worm burden. I believe this is a practice which is highly replicable in Wales and could lead to reduced reliance and resistance to anthelmintics."
Rachael Madeley-Davies, HCC’s head of sustainability and future policy commented: "We are delighted to announce Dan and Tudor as this year’s HCC Scholars. We had a record level of interest in the HCC Scholarship this year and a very strong field of candidates, proving that there is a great deal of ambition and appetite to learn in our industry."
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
