Dunbia are delighted to have two of our dedicated suppliers win awards at the Annual M&S Select Farm Awards this past summer, with the awards being presented during a ceremony at this years Royal Welsh Show.
Tom and Bethan Evans – Royal Countryside Fund award winner
Tom and Bethan Evans have been named winners of this year’s Royal Countryside Fund Family Farm Award for England and Wales in the annual M&S Select Farm Awards.
The judges admired Tom and Bethan’s enthusiasm for involving the whole family in their farming business as well as their support for the local community. The couple was invited to receive the award during the M&S Select Farm Awards ceremony at this year’s Royal Welsh Show.
Parents to Meia, Elsa and Emrys, Tom and Bethan farm just outside Aberystwyth, running a flock of 450 ewes, half being crossbred to produce lamb for M&S via processor Dunbia, with the others a performance-recorded Welsh flock to produce Welsh Hill rams.
Tom and Bethan both work part-time off the farm in teaching and quality assurance but have also found time to start two initiatives with the local community in mind: Pwmpenni Pendre Pumpkins, a pumpkin patch, and Podiau Pendre, luxury glamping pods.
“We are now in the third year of running the pumpkin patch and have just planted 5,500 pumpkins ready for the public this autumn,” commented Tom. “Every year, we invite local schools and nurseries to pick their own pumpkins and host several Young Farmers’ Clubs, to explain how we created and marketed our pumpkin business.”
Tom and Bethan made a conscious effort to use resources from the local community when setting up the pumpkin patch, with a catering van and staff sourced within a small distance of the farm.
This ethos extends to their luxurious glamping pods enterprise too, using only local contractors, plumbers and electricians from the area to construct them and employing another local and a student to help maintain them.
“We also see the glamping pods as an opportunity to bring people into the area, which gives a boost to local business,” commented Tom. “Within the pods we advertise local activities and places to eat, and offer guests a breakfast box of local produce, including milk from a local dairy farm and meat from a local butcher. We knew if we were going to do it, we would do it with the local community in mind.
“Meia, who is twelve, and Elsa, eleven, also help on the farm. Meia cleans the hot tubs in the glamping pods, oversees the pay point for the pumpkin patch and sells eggs from her own chickens at the farm gate. Elsa also has an honesty box for the glamping pods where she sells toiletries, as well as offering face painting and a lucky dip box at the pumpkin patch. We’re hoping as parents our ambition and drive has rubbed off on them.”
Additionally, every year Bethan visits a local high school in Aberystwyth to speak to business studies students, providing insights into the farm operations. She discusses, in detail, the costs involved and how they market both the pumpkin patch and the glamping pods.
Keith Halstead, Executive Director at The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “I am delighted to present this Family Farm Award to Tom and Bethan Evans. Their dedication to family farming, innovative business ventures and support for their rural community, truly exemplifies our approach at The Royal Countryside Fund of productive and profitable agriculture in harmony with nature. The Evans family’s achievements showcase the positive impact passionate, local-minded farmers can have, and we are delighted to recognise their outstanding contribution to rural life in Wales.”
Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture and Fisheries at M&S, said: “M&S Select Farmers are renowned leaders in promoting the highest standards in farming. The Evans family has demonstrated ambition while enriching the local community, in addition to producing the highest quality lamb.”
As winners of The Royal Countryside Fund Family Farm Award for England and Wales, Tom and Bethan received a certificate and M&S voucher during a supplier reception at the Royal Welsh Show.
James Raw – Low Impact Award Winner
Sheep farmer James Raw has been named winner of this year’s Low Impact Award in the annual M&S Select Farm Awards.
As Low Impact Award winner for England and Wales, James was invited to receive his award during the M&S Select Farm Awards ceremony on the retailer’s stand at this year’s Royal Welsh Show. The judges commended James for his farm’s resourcefulness and ethos of self-sufficiency.
Seventh-generation farmer James runs a hill farm in the heart of the Cambrian mountains with a lamb enterprise consisting of 850 Welsh Hill ewes in an outdoor lambing system, with finished lambs being supplied to M&S via processor Dunbia.
Sustainability has always been a central element of the farm’s management, with two hydroelectric turbines built in 2012 producing enough electricity to power 300 homes. This power is exported to the grid as well as powering their home. But the farm’s record of environmentally friendly practices goes back further.
“We have been in environmental schemes for probably 25 to 30 years,” commented James. “Currently, one option we’ve chosen is to reduce grazing on the more than 300 hectares of peat bogs to help maintain and improve the carbon sequestration levels and number of heathers and sphagnum mosses.”
Elsewhere, subsoil left from the construction of the hydroelectric turbines was used to create earth banks, with hedgerows planted on top. Over the last 15 years, James has planted more than 3km of hedgerows, helping create a shelter for livestock, a carbon sink and wildlife corridors.
James also makes best use of the timber and windfall on the farm. He peels and processes some wood for fencing, beams and cladding, processes and naturally dries sustainable firewood and has commissioned several tables and benches from windblown oak for the farm’s holiday cottage.
Steve McLean, Head of Agriculture and Fisheries at M&S, said: “Every day, our Select Farmers go to extraordinary lengths to deliver great quality M&S food to our customers, producing lower carbon, responsible food, while protecting natural resources and driving innovation.
“James has expertly demonstrated how the natural resources of his farm can be used, not only to benefit its sustainability, but by producing so much hydroelectric power, the wider community too.”
As winner of the Low Impact Award for England and Wales, James received a certificate and M&S voucher during a supplier reception at the Royal Welsh Show.
