Katie Rose-Davies, a third-generation hill sheep farmer from Nantymoel, near Bridgen, has been named as the 25th winner of the Wales Woman Farmer of the Year Award.
She has been presented with a Welsh crystal engraved bowl and £500 prize money to mark her achievement.
Rose-Davies’ family has been farming in the Ogmore Valley for over 90 years, and she has been a partner in the business since 2015. She is also a mother of three and a Lecturer in Agriculture at Bridgend College.
She is also joint secretary of Glamorgan Farmers Club and is part of a Farm Photography Club which feeds into a PhD Project at Gloucester University looking at how the UK livestock industry is reacting to current climate change discourse.
Rose-Davies has hosted a number of farm visits including the Minister for Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths and the Vice Premier of China, where she showcased Welsh beef and lamb.
Following this she was identified as a leader in environmental farming practices and met with the then Prince of Wales, to discuss sustainable farming practices.
She also recently hosted a farm visit for Nantymoel Primary School with nearly 200 pupils attending to learn about food, farming and the environment.
She has since arranged for the Cows on Tour group to visit the school and has agreed to make this an annual event, showing how passionate she is about the industry and educating young people.
Judge Lona Davies, representing award sponsors the National Farmers’ Union, said that while all entries were strong, the judges were in agreement that Katie was “the pick of the entries for this year’s award”.
“Her passion and dedication to the industry, not only in taking care of her stock and the environment, but also her attitude towards educating youngsters about where their food comes from, shone through during our visit to her farm.
“Along with working off-farm educating students about agriculture and running the farm with her husband Trystan and her parents, she also raises three young children and is a truly fantastic advocate for our industry,” she said.
An Agri-Academy Graduate from the Rural Leadership Programme, Rose-Davies was also a Young Ambassador for the Welsh Black Cattle Society in 2010, HCC Livestock Scholarship finalist in 2011, Wales Young Farmers’ Club (YFC) Stockperson of the Year in 2008 and was an Agriscop Leader for 2014 – 2015.
‘Worthy’ Wales Woman Farmer of the Year
NFU Cymru deputy president and judge of the award, Abi Reader added: “Katie is a strong advocate for safeguarding the future of Welsh agriculture, Welsh heritage and culture and believes education plays a key role in promoting the fantastic work farmers do in producing safe, healthy and sustainable food.
“She endeavours to look beyond the farmgate and embrace a new, and perhaps different, approach to her business and embodies everything we look for in a winner of this award.
“Katie believes that the industry needs the best people who are able to tackle the many challenges that face our industry, and after visiting her farm it was clear she is a very worthy winner of the Wales Woman Farmer of the Year award.”
Katie is responsible for devloping the home business and ensuring its viability, which she does though continuous professional development, benchmarking and attending various workshops.
As part of a new marketing strategy she developed the ‘Bwlch Mountain Lamb’ brand in 2019 and started marketing their products through box schemes.
She also works to ensure the farm operates in a sustainable way, by using techniques like hefting and the cutting of molinia to encourage ground nesting birds.
The farm participates in the Glastir scheme which has enabled it to invest in capital works such as rebuilding dry stone walls, sheepfolds and keeping South Wales Mountain ewes, which are indigenous to the area and play an intrinsic part in the heritage and culture of the South Wales Valleys.
